http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/apr/27/protopye-electric-car-could-point-way-future/
Prototype Electric Car Could Point The Way To The Future
April 27, 2016 Erik Anderson
[video flash
audio
https://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/audio/2016/04/27/20160427-SEA-CARBAT.mp3
Aired 4/27/16 on KPBS Radio News UC San Diego engineers plan to put an
electric car through a challenging cross-country journey. They're
covering a
2,500-mile trip in less than two days, which can't be done with current
battery technology
https://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/audio/2016/04/27/160427-Car_Battery-Midday.mp3
Aired 4/27/16 on KPBS Midday Edition Guest: Erik Anderson, KPBS
reporter
http://www.kpbs.org/audioclips/29177/#transcript
transcript
image
https://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2016/04/21/battery_modules_t700.jpg?f40c0e74b997dbb01ce524758e0d04a31382c8af
Modular batteries in the rear of Lou Shrinkle's electric Volkswagen
car,
April 11, 2016 / Matthew Bowler
]
UC San Diego engineers plan to put an electric car through a
challenging
cross-country journey. They're covering a 2,500-mile trip in less than
two
days, which can't be done with current battery technology.
Lou Shrinkle's Volkswagen looks like any other passenger car of its
kind.
But it's different: Every time he turns on the ignition, an annoying
alarm
goes off. The car warns the retired engineer that there's a problem
with the
engine.
"Of course, there is," Shrinkle said, laughing as he examined his car
earlier in April. "There's a fuel system problem."
The vehicle's diagnostic system was telling him it couldn't find the
proper
engine fluids, which wasn't surprising to Shrinkle — the internal
combustion
engine has been removed and replaced with an electrical power plant.
That isn't unusual, but how the car stores its fuel is unique.
Shrinkle stood by the backdoor of the car and peeked inside. He leaned
in
and grabbed a suitcase-sized box.
"OK, pulling the module connectors," Shrinkle said. He grabbed hold of
the
heavy battery so it slides out of the car. "Now this module contains 48
lithium, iron, phosphate batteries. It weighs about 30 pounds. Again,
that's
about twice as heavy as it needs to be."
The car has more than a dozen individual battery modules that work
together
to feed the engine. Each can be pulled out and replaced in less than a
minute.
"Back in," Shrinkle said as he popped a clamp into place with a loud
pop.
"And it's now engaged."
That modular battery system makes this car completely different from
other
electric cars.
Most electric vehicles typically rely on one large battery, tucked away
under the passenger seats or in the trunk, to store the energy needed
for
propulsion. That battery may need to be charged overnight, or with a
fast
charger be fueled up in a couple of hours.
Demand for a new business model
It is a business model that doesn't make sense to UC San Diego
Engineering
professor Raymond de Callafon, who's developing a new system that's
going to
be tested on Shrinkle's car this summer.
Callafon called the reliance on refueling a single battery impractical.
De
Callafon said fast charging isn't a solution because speeding up how
fast a
battery can be refilled requires more energy.
De Callafon thinks swapping battery modules goes a long way toward
eliminating the refueling dilemma.
"Imagine that now you're driving your car, and let's say its 40 percent
or
50 percent empty," de Callafon said. "You would have to charge it. Here
you
could actually take, if you have 10 modules in your car, and take five
out —
those are the ones that are empty — and put five in and you're
completely
replenished."
The system could operate like it does for propane fuel tanks used to
fuel
backyard grills, de Callafon said. Empty batteries could be exchanged
for
fully-charged ones.
De Callafon is developing a control system that'll manage groups of
batteries. The modules can be older and newer. They can be full or
partially
empty. His system will allow different batteries to work together to
feed an
electric motor.
Think of it as a cruise control system for electrical power. Once
standards
are adopted, batteries could take on a variety of tasks.
"To be able to have the flexibility of moving energy around — you see
it now
from people who like to store their solar (energy) in a battery in
their
garage. And then (they) are able to move it into their car, or move
those
batteries in other utilities, a lawnmower or any equipment you have,"
de
Callafon said.
Modular batteries in the rear of Lou Shrinkle's electric Volkswagen
car,
April 11, 2016.
The concept has a chance to change the way people use electricity, and
the
system could completely upend the electric vehicle business. Car
companies
currently sell the batteries inside an electrical car. With modules,
batteries could be bought from third party sellers and car companies
would
only be selling the vehicle. That could sharply reduce the cost of an
electric car.
Lab work is key to progress
"The challenge is that the batteries have to work as a system," de
Callafon
said. "It's a system's way of thinking. They have to be part of the
integration."
That system research is what his team is working on in the lab.
Ph.D. student Xin Zhao came to the UC San Diego after working on
electric
cars in China.
"Here, I just want to turn on the power supply," Zhao said. "So we want
to
simulate the batteries. So (with) each power supply, I'm setting the
voltage
and current output of this."
Zhao is helping refine the control systems that let the batteries
communicate wirelessly. Complex algorithms manage each battery's
voltage,
storage capacity and ability to communicate with both the car and other
batteries. Those control systems can also gauge demand and modulate the
flow
of energy to an electric engine. They will decide whether to tap into
one or
two or more battery modules.
"Do we want to deplete a certain amount of modules rather than the
entire
battery pack? Or charge it back or so? If there's a chance that we can
get
this done, then the scheduling will be a good feature for this
technology,"
Zhao said.
The real proof of concept comes this summer. That's when a team of
researchers, students and volunteers will take Shrinkle's car on a
cross-country odyssey.
The idea is to drive more than 2,500 miles from San Diego to
Charleston,
South Carolina.
"If we're driving across the country we figure there will be about 20
to 25
stops," Shrinkle said. "That's plenty of work. And we're doing all that
in a
period of two days."
The two-day trip is possible because there are no long charging stops.
Battery modules will be swapped out in a matter of minutes and the car
will
continue on its way.
It's a grueling 45-hour proof of concept that could have engineers
swapping
new ideas about how batteries power electric vehicles and other
appliances.
[© 2016 KPBS Public Broadcasting]
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