Monday, May 07, 2007

Easy as A123


Perhaps the most important milestone in developing Plug in Hybrids is the availability of an affordable, practical, and powerful battery pack. Here is a significant announcement by David Vieau, CEO of A123 Systems.

A123 Announces Standard Retrofit Module
Energy Blog
May 2, 2007

On May 1 in testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, David Vieau, CEO of A123Systems announced that they will be testing a standard production hybrid with a supplemental battery module filled with their current production lithium ion batteries, converting it to a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), in various fleets in 2007 and intend to market it nationwide in 2008.

A123Systems produces Nanophoshate based lithium ion batteries with a combination of power density, durability and safety in excess of anything mass produced on the market today.

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The battery module used to convert hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrid vehicles will be certified to meet all applicable new car test standards and will be installed by trained mechanics in less than 2 hours. The module is small enough to fit into a vehicles spare tire well.

This module contains their current production battery cells and delivers enough usable energy for the vehicle to travel the equivalent of 40 miles on electricity, achieving as much as 150 MPG in urban driving and 100 MPG in highway driving.

This module is charged overnight from a regular 120 volt extension cord which plugs into the bumper. Since the average commuter travels under 30 miles per day, off peak nightly charging of this module both improves a utility's load factor and efficiencies while reducing total gasoline consumption and emissions dramatically. snip

At an initial 40 mile module installed price of $10,000 supported with a $3500 tax credit, the payback period for a fleet owner with $3.00/gallon gas is 2.5 years, against an expected life of 10 or more years.

The payback period for the average commuter driving 11,000 miles per year would be 5.5 years. These calculations place no value on the net reduction of approximately 100 tons of carbon dioxide and other emissions over the life of the vehicle and take no account of the cost reductions which could accrue from additional materials research and increasing production volumes.

The original equipment PHEVs due out early in the next decade utilizing even better batteries integrated directly into the vehicle at the factory will be more efficient and less costly. But there can be as many as 15 million standard hybrids on the road when plug-in volumes skyrocket from 2012 to 2017. more

In another important energy storage development Zenn has invested in EEStor.


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