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Friay, May 19, 2006 More Powerful Hybrid BatteriesA123 Systems has built a powerful, lightweight lithium-ion battery pack that could lower the price of hybrid vehicles. By Kevin Bullis
Last fall, Watertown, MA-based startup A123 Systems announced that its advanced lithium-ion batteries would make rechargeable circular saws and drills more powerful than plug-in tools (see "More Powerful Batteries"). The company, having delivered on its promise (the tools will be available at The Home Depot this weekend), has now built a battery pack that Ric Fulop, one of the company's founders and its vice president of marketing and business development, says could make hybrid vehicles cheaper and more convenient, while maintaining or improving performance. The new hybrid battery pack was unveiled this week at the Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference in Baltimore. It could be appearing in vehicles within three years, Fulop says. The pack weighs about as much as a small laptop computer, yet fits into a case smaller than a carton of cigarettes. Ten of them would replace the 45-kilogram battery in the Prius, Fulop says; and if one failed, the consumer could continue to drive the car using the remaining batteries, then replace the faulty one as easily as changing the battery on a rechargeable tool. Such convenience could start to look more and more attractive as today's hybrid cars age and drivers face the need to replace worn-out batteries -- especially second owners who won't have warranty coverage. So far, however, battery replacement isn't a big issue in the industry. In Japan, where the Prius has been on the market much longer than in the United States, for instance, Toyota just got up to a few hundred batteries last year in its recycling program. Probably more important than ease of replacement, though, is the potential for cost savings and increased safety. Because the advanced lithium-ion batteries put a lot of power into a small, light package, a much smaller battery is needed to power the car, which could reduce hybrid prices. As a result, a variety of cars in a fleet could come with a hybrid option that costs about as much as the option for an automatic transmission, Fulop says. Furthermore, lower-priced hybrid cars that have the acceleration and other performance features customers want could help hybrids capture more of the vehicle market, especially if a hybrid drive train can be offered on a wide variety of vehicles, according to analyst Hideo Takeshita of the Institute of Information Technology in Tokyo. In the short term, however, Takeshita's seemingly logical assumption about lower-cost hybrid cars might not be right. Scott Miller, CEO of the market-trend analysis company Synovate Motoresearch, in Royal Oak, MI, says a major reason consumers buy hybrids today is to have a "badge of honor" that shows their commitment to the environment or to curbing gasoline use. And it's an opinion shared by Toyota's Hermance. Part of this distinction, as Miller sees it, comes from having to pay a price premium for the vehicle. Hence, in the short term, he says, it might actually be wise for carmakers to leave hybrid prices higher.
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An Electrifying Startup
04/22/2008
Comments
Guest (Solomon) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (John) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (M) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Dell) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (lola ) on 06/18/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
just think about it....
Guest (stupidhead) on 06/27/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
avalain on 08/14/2007 at 12:16 PM
1
As for the battery replacement. I just read an article that said Toyota has a 100,000 mile warranty on the battery and has not had to replace one in the US since the prius came out in 2000 or so. It is not something that dies in a year like your laptop battery.
Kevtyo on 01/17/2007 at 8:30 PM
4
sustaniblity.
Guest (Dan) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
A smart auto maker would put one out super cheap and make profit off of volume and establish themselves as the hybrid maker.
Guest (Paul McLachlan) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
for the ideal ICE for high power density hydrogen/gasoline or hydrogen/CNG vehicles.
Guest (Anthony) on 05/24/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (JW) on 05/24/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Luca) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
How much weight it's possible to save?
How much capital and maintenance costs less than hybrid or miniSUV?
You don't need H, fuel cell, reformer, internal combustion motor.
Guest (Randy Holloman) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Nicolae) on 05/20/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Rich) on 05/20/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (kruelhunter) on 05/21/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (ANON) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Some people will buy hybrids to save the enviroment, think of it like this
if we dont save our enviorment we are dead.
What you prefer use more money to save your life or not use your money and you wont see things in nature that we take for granted. and remmeber is not easy just to get out of this planet when its in ruin just because you dont want to spend 50% more
Guest (Mark Shapiro) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
I still wonder why we don't see more hybrid buses, taxis, and delivery vans, where they make the most economic sense.
Guest (M) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Lee Mc) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
and at Zero Fossil Fuel/Energy Inputs, I can't get a penny support from the govenment, its all Big Money that drives Gvrnmnt,
Guest (YaRight) on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest on 05/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Instead of the smart answer, you could have asked Lee Mc to explain what he meant by his comments. Instead you drew a quick conclusion and did not learn anything new. When one talks too quickly or too much one only learns what one already knows.
Mr Miller shame on you, You remind me of Mr DeLaurean (Sic) and his 1980's stainless-steel car who instead of charging a fair price for the car commissioned some marketing guru to tell him how much he should charge. Of course he got the answer he wanted in the first place and charged way too much. We all remember what happened to him after he went under and was caught selling coke.
Inventing beeter batteries will not result in less expensive cars, because or short sightedness from Detroit and Washington.
Guest (Rich) on 05/20/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Patrick) on 08/12/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
We dont need anything new, nuclear energy will be the post-oil-age energy source.
Guest (dch) on 05/22/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Safer? Packs more power into a smaller area. Let me see, take that to the extreme. would I rather have one gallon of gas spilled in my back yard which is open, or one gallon of gas spilled in the confined bilge of my boat? Seems pretty obvious to me.
Guest (Mike) on 05/22/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
MauiSailer on 01/11/2007 at 6:54 PM
1
By the way ... our Govenor has a interest in her suporting family who owns Cutter Ford Dealerships that has State and County contracts.Who wants ebikes going up the volcano when you can get trucked to the top and coast down on a downhill tour for $100. Millions are made each year from several companies doing this.Stalling these batteries is all the big guys are doing until the oil companies figure out when to buy it all up and controll it at there whim.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=ecyclemaui
http://community-2.webtv.net/SolarCraft/EVMOTORS/