Self-heating battery for 400 km in 10 min.
Electric cars are repeatedly criticized for their lack of range. One development promises that the self-heating battery can be driven 400 kilometers and the battery recharged in ten minutes.
Range fears in e-cars are expected to increase thanks to a battery development at Pennsylvania State University (cf. http://psu.edu) disappear. The long-life lithium iron phosphate battery can travel 400 kilometers and is said to recharge in just ten minutes during a coffee break. This is allegedly made possible by a self-heating technology that allows the battery to reach optimum operating temperature.
Heating is trumps
"We have developed a pretty smart battery for mass-market e-cars, at cost parity with internal combustion vehicles," says Chao-Yang Wang, professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering. The talk is of 400 km range, charging in ten minutes and a lifetime of more than 3.2 million km. As the researchers report in "Nature Energy," this is made possible by a self-heating technology that quickly heats the battery to 60 degrees Celsius - the optimal temperature for charging and discharging.
Rapid heating of the battery to operating temperature is made possible by a thin nickel foil. When current flows, this heats up quickly due to electrical resistance and thus heats the inside of the battery. Once it reaches 60 degrees, the battery is ready for operation with rapid charging or discharging. According to Wang's team, this technology should make it possible to use inexpensive electrode materials - lithium iron phosphate as well as graphite - and safe electrolytes for the battery. According to Wang, this makes the battery inexpensive, lightweight and compact - and thus ideal for the mass market.
Quick start possible
According to Wang, relatively compact batteries should achieve 40 kilowatt hours of capacity and 300 kilowatts of power. An e-car would thus be able to accelerate from zero to 100 in around three seconds and could thus be driven like a Porsche. "With this, we will change the environment and not just contribute luxury cars," the scientist emphasizes. Because, according to the researchers, the batteries would also be really competitive in terms of price.
Source: Pressetext.com, Thomas Pichler
