Batteries

Green-car loans awarded to Ford, Nissan, Tesla

Updated at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday with further loan details.

The U.S. government, which plans to kick-start development of a new generation of fuel-efficient automobiles through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, announced on Tuesday some loan application winners.

Ford Motor gets loans totaling $5.9 billion, going to a variety of fuel efficiency initiatives, while a $1.6 billion loan to Nissan is intended to help it refit a Tennessee plant for electric car production.

Tesla Motors is also a winner under the program, getting a $465 million loan, most of which will be used to … Read more

Electric cars seen as killer app for smart grid

WASHINGTON--Where you see an electric car, your utility sees a battery on wheels.

Forward-looking utilities are gearing up to tap into the stored energy that plug-in electric vehicles can provide using smart-grid technology, said industry executives at consulting firm Kema's Utility of the Future conference here this week.

Car batteries can provide a buffer to lighten the load on the grid during peak times and potentially provide back-up power to homeowners. Down the line, old plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) batteries could be recycled as storage devices, they said.

"I think PHEVs will be the killer application for … Read more

Battery-free LED flashlight recharges in 90 seconds

Last year, 5.11 Tactical, which makes clothes and gear aimed at law enforcement officers (but sells to civilians), announced a new high-tech flashlight called Light for Life. Only recently, however, has it become available to order.

What's special about it? Well, the flashlight uses three LEDs, but its key component is Flashpoint Power technology, an ultracapacitor energy storage system from Ivus Energy Innovations.

Light for Life recharges in just 90 seconds and shines at 90 lumens for 90 minutes per charge. The flashlight has three modes: bright (270 peak lumens), standard (90 lumens), and strobe, which is good for dance parties or scaring the neighbors' dog and kids (OK, I'm kidding, but you get the picture).

According to 5.11 Tactical, the 50,000-hour LEDs never have to be replaced and the flashlight is engineered to "offer 10 years of maintenance-free service under typical conditions." (You can recharge it up 50,000 times or one time a day for 135 years.)

I got a chance to play around with the thing at a recent event, and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It's lighter (16 ounces) than it looks, and it feels very durable. The one question I asked was: what happens when the power goes out and you have to recharge the thing? Answer: it comes with a 12V DC automotive charger, so you can use your car to charge it up in the event of a power outage.

The only drawback: Light for Life costs a whopping $169.99. But 5.11 Tactical says that when you add up the cost of all those D batteries over the lifetime of a battery-powered police flashlight, it's still a deal. And then there's all that good karma you get for not chucking those batteries into the garbage or landfill. It's hard to put a price on that.

Comments?

See one more photo after the break.… Read more

GM opens auto battery research plant

General Motors opened the doors to a battery research and development plant in Michigan on Monday, a facility the company says will accelerate its move to electric vehicles.

The Global Battery Systems Lab in Warren, Mich., will be used to test the lithium ion batteries planned for the Chevy Volt as well as other energy storage systems such as ultracapacitors, GM said.

The facility, at 33,000 square feet, is four times larger than GM's existing testing operation and will be used by 1,000 engineers, according to the company which hosted a ceremony with Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm … Read more

Hybrid ship ahoy: Valence to supply Siemens

Lithium ion battery company Valence plans to supply batteries to Siemens for hybrid ships and to Chicago utility S&C Electric for grid storage.

Its deal with Siemens Drive Technologies calls for Valence to develop energy storage for a planned hybrid marine propulsion system from Siemens. Valence will hook up its lithium iron magnesium phosphate batteries to Siemens' drive system via a standard interface, the company said.

The two companies have already supplied a hybrid drive train for double-decker buses from Wrightbus.

Valence on Wednesday said it intends to supply grid-connected storage systems for S&C Electric, which … Read more

Charging gadget redefines power-walking

The nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) from a company called Tremont Electric harnesses personal kinetic energy as a person walks, transferring it into electricity to the portable electronic device plugged into it.

Using this method, the PEG can charge the average portable device up to 80 percent in about an hour.

Aaron LeMiex, the inventor and founder of Tremont Electric, came up with the idea for the device while hiking 1,500 miles of the Appalachian Trail more than 10 years ago.

The PEG is 9 inches by 1.5 inches, weighs about 9 ounces, and is made of recycled materials. The PEG isn't a battery, so users can not store their kinetic energy to be used for charging later. Instead, it's more of a kinetic energy real-time converter that must be plugged in to the device as it's moving for the kinetic energy to be transferred as electricity immediately to the device.

The PEG, which has a standard USB 2.0 output, is compatible with 90 percent of portable electronic devices including MP3 players, GPS units, and digital cameras, according to Tremont Electric. (The compatibility list includes BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod, LG Chocolate, Magellan GPS, Nintendo DS Lite, Palm Treo, and most cell phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, and Sony.)

There's no need to wear the device, as with some other kinetic energy harvesting devices. Simply carrying the PEG in a backpack, purse, or briefcase while walking provides the opportunity to harvest enough kinetic energy for the electricity.… Read more

Boston Power plans battery plant for cars, laptops

Battery company Boston Power thinks it can bring electric car battery manufacturing to the U.S. with some help from government stimulus funds.

The Westborough, Mass.-based company on Monday is scheduled to hold a press event in nearby Auburn where it plans to build a factory to make lithium-ion batteries for laptops and electric vehicles.

Construction of the facility, which used to be a distribution center for a clothing retailer, is contingent on a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's advanced battery and cell manufacturing grant program.

Boston Power has applied for $100 million in the … Read more

Zenn boosts stake in EEStor's energy storage

Electric car maker Zenn Motor has increased its investment in EEStor, a stealth company that focuses on energy storage and claims its technology will yield an affordable car-battery pack.

Toronto-based Zenn said Thursday that it has verified previously done tests of EEStor's ultracapacitor technology and that it has invested an additional $700,000 in the company.

As part of its agreement with EEStor, Zenn now has an option to purchase as much as 10 percent of the company--up from 3.8 percent--if EEStor delivers "production-quality" energy-storage devices for small cars.

Zenn now makes its namesake "neighborhood&… Read more

Future air-fueled battery could store 10 times more power

A new type of air-fueled battery being studied could provide up to 10 times the energy storage of designs currently available, and someday be used to power electric cars, mobile phones, and laptops, say researchers.

"Our results so far are very encouraging and have far exceeded our expectations," said professor Peter Bruce, of the University of St Andrews' chemistry department, in a news release Monday.

The new idea the researchers are examining is to replace the lithium cobalt oxide electrode in today's rechargeable lithium batteries with a porous carbon electrode. This allows lithium ions and electrons in … Read more