# New Battery Technology



## djmjnewton (Aug 14, 2008)

"Australian CSIRO has signed an UltraBattery commercialisation and distribution agreement with Japan's Furukawa Battery Company and United States manufacturer, East Penn. More at http://www.csiro.au/science/UltraBattery.html

The UltraBattery offers a number of advantages over conventional car batteries:

cycle life is four times longer
50 per cent more power than lead acid batteries counterparts
approximately 70 per cent less expensive than current HEV battery systems
faster charge and discharge rates
The exclusive sub-license agreement will see the UltraBattery distributed by East Penn to the automotive and motive power sector throughout North America, Mexico and Canada while Furukawa Battery Company will release the technology in Japan and Thailand.
The technology is scheduled to be commercially available in the automotive market and for motive power applications throughout these regions within two years.
The UltraBattery is not yet licensed in Australia for automotive applications. CSIRO is accepting expressions of interest for manufacture and distribution of the technology in this region. "

Does anyone know anybody at EXIDE in Wellington? Surely this is the sort of thing we need to be producing here to power our EVs.


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## John (Sep 11, 2007)

I would be careful not to mistake an improvement in power density for an improvement in energy density. The hybridisation of a lead acid battery with super capacitors would result in an improvement in the power density only. With a descent sized pack (required for range in an EV anyway) power is not generally a problem though it could be in a much smaller HEV pack which this technology is targeted at. The HEV cycles its pack much more often than an EV and the super caps reduce this cycling to extend battery life which I imagine would otherwise be rather short.


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## djmjnewton (Aug 14, 2008)

Fair enough, but even if it had the same energy density but lasted for 4 times the cycle life and was as cheap as this article hints at the cost per km driven should still be better than the lead acids I'm using at the moment. The ability to recharge at higher Amps would also seem advantagous as my current charging takes 4-6 hrs. I just hope they dont sell the patent to Chevron.


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## John (Sep 11, 2007)

I think you might find that the cost comparison is with current HEV packs which are predominantly Nickel metal Hydride and soon to be Lithium Ion yet the life cycle comparison is with “conventional car batteries” which I read as lead acid. They say they have an HEV that has gone 100,000 miles “under strict and challenging conditions” which is some thing current HEV’s can exceed on their current packs. This lends credibility to the notion that they are not comparing cycle life to current HEV packs but lead acid. One subject they don’t approach is the time based degradation of lead acid. The battery is targeted at reduced cost HEV’s. My feeling is that in an BEV you might get a small incremental gain in battery life due to the super caps reducing peak current demand but the energy density would be worse due to the weight of the super caps (partially offset by the increase in battery efficiency due to reduced peak current) and the cost would be worse due to the addition of the super caps.


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## texEV01 (Nov 5, 2008)

Wayne DeVries supplyed my batteries 0275 443 953 03 365 3792


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## djmjnewton (Aug 14, 2008)

I was wrong. You were right. This from the man himself
Subject: RE: UltraBattery (Profile - Project)
>>
>>
>> Dear XXXX,
>>
>> UltraBattery is designed to absorb high power from regenerative braking 
>> and to provide high power for acceleration. The energy of UltraBattery 
>> is similar to that of the equivalent lead-acid battery. The Battery is 
>> aimed to use in hybrid-electric vehicles, not pure electric vehicle. So, 
>> my answer is that the driving range of the vehicle will not be extended 
>> when the UltraBattery is used.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Lan Lam
From: <[email protected]
UltraBattery: no ordinary battery (Profile - Project)
>>>> (http://www.csiro.au/science/UltraBattery.html)

In response though, at the right price, the ability to recharge quickly and the cycle life advantages might still make these an economically superior beast to the conventional flooded lead acids we can currently afford.


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## djmjnewton (Aug 14, 2008)

Hi, Interesting development.

A graph that purports to cycling PbCarbon batteries an amazing number of times at 4C and compares them to ordinary Lead acid and LiFePO4.

WOW.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/115257-lead-carbon-a-game-changer-for-alternative-energy-storage

another general discussion about PbC that mentions Firefly and Oasis batteries as well.

http://www.economist.com/science/tm/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12924031

regards
David


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## John (Sep 11, 2007)

It’s quite difficult to draw conclusions relevant to EV's from the graph. They were only using a 10% DOD. Also it’s normal to consider a battery at the end of its commercial life when its capacity drops below 80%. The initial capacity of the VRLA appears to be about 86% on the graph while the ultra battery appears to be about 106% and they run it down to almost 70% and the line on the graph appears quite erratic. The Li-ion test is stoped well short of reaching 80% capacity. This said cycle life does appear very strong at least on a shallow discharge cycle. This doesn't how ever tell you anything about the calendar life which is typically quite short for an automotive lead acid. Two main modes of battery failure are sulfation and grid corrosion. I think carbon might only mitigate the Sulfation issue. Grid corrosion is accelerated in hot climates

Also note that the author of the first article does not advocate that these batteries are useful for EV's. They weigh about as much as their equivalent capacity in lead acid batteries but because they contain less lead and are consequently of lower density they occupy more space. This is not such an issue in a HEV where the battery is of small capacity. This doesn't mean they would be undesirable to use in EV's but simply adds another challenge to over come. Cost is another question to be asked. In one of the author’s tables in another of his article he puts the price of a battery pack at 2.5 times the price of VRLA. Else where he talks about NiMh being 2/3 more than lead-Carbon batteries and he prices NiMh at four times lead acid. So expect them to be pricy.


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