On Jan 6, 2009, at 12:09 AM, xponentrob wrote: > Most of the electrics are using Lithium Ion batteries and getting > ranges > similar to what you posit here. Indeed, several exceed 140 MPC, > though they > generally are high end and expensive. > Altairnano Technology has batteries that will work like "new" after > 180,000 > miles. There are plenty of amazing advances being made currently > (NPI).
Li+ has potential, but it's not as mature a technology as NiMH. The reason a lot of electrics are using Li+ is that it isn't tied up in the patent squatting I mentioned earlier. (The Chevron/Cobasys patents expire in 2012. I'd be willing to bet money that we see a veritable explosion of large format NiMH battery production the moment those patents expire.) > The Chevy Volt looks like it has a chance to be a Prius killer. It > is just a > better system. I saw some rather unimpressive demos of it not too long ago. GM rolled one out for a photo shoot a few months ago and it could barely move itself, let alone drive -- possibly a firmware issue of some sort, or miscalculations in the engineering somewhere, but not ready for prime time yet. I know a lot of people who aren't holding their breath for the Volt to go into production. If it does, and if it's *ready* when it does, then yes, it has the potential to be a Prius killer. We'll see, though. "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." -- Thomas Jefferson _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
