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(C x V^2)/2 = (58 x 15 x 15)/2 = 6525 J = 1.813 Wh
but I've been awake longer and have had 5 green teas. Terry
OK. Let's do some rough calcs. How many kWhs are needed (in the
future) for a Prius-sized vehicle with a 100 mile range?
If we assume that we can reduce the Prius weight to about a ton by
eliminating the gasoline engine and retaining 300 pounds of
storage (baterries, ultracaps or batcaps). I suspect that you will
still need about 50 kWh of total capacity, no? To keep the price
under $25,000 this can cost the manufacturer no more than about
$7,000 correct?
...we are still a factor of about 500 away from that possibility
with the ultracaps and a factor of 50 away with lithium batteries.
It can be done with lead acid now - but you would need to lug
around an extra half-ton of them.
OTOH ... EEStor is closer - their eagerly awaited unit weighs 400
pounds, and is said to deliver 52 kilowatt hours on a fresh
charge.
Jones
I was looking back over some old posts - two months ago isn't that
old, and it was the second time I had run across the EEStor rumors
coming from Silicon Valley (where they were funded - the company
is in Texas). Even so, it is clear to see why Daimler, for one,
is more concerned in the short term with diesels than hybrids:
This is from mid-January after the Chicago auto show:
The most vocal challenge against the Prius 'exemplar' of
gasoline-electric hybrid with substantial battery power is coming
from DaimlerChrysler, which thinks diesel engines-sans-batteries
are a better overall solution.
I hope that Daimler does not know something about batteries that
others are missing. In fact, this stance of theirs seems like a
gigantic tactical error in light of the analysts at Kleiner
Perkins VC (venture capitalists extraodinaire). No VC investor in
the world has been as successful, or as admired in financial
circles - from NY to London to Hong Kong to LA - as Kleiner
Perkins. They are simply the top dog.
To paraphrase Rob Hoff in the article cited below, John Doerr of
K-P has been talking up investments in energy and environmental
startups, but he has never revealed many details EXCEPT ... At a
Churchill Club event yesterday in Palo Alto he and other VCs
offered their annual tech predictions: High on the list is his
"highest-risk, highest-reward" investment.
He didn't mention it by name, but I will - EEStor.
Diesels do get 20 percent to 40 percent better fuel economy than
gasoline engines of the same power at little added cost - and yes
they now account for more than half of all cars sold in Europe.
They are claimed to be more easily adapted to biofuels,
supposedly, but that is questionable. Many of the historical
negatives of diesels - such as noise and cold-starts have been
solved. In Europe, diesel fuel is generally cheaper - whereas
here, the opposite seems to be true in recent years.
However, there are now at least 100 well-funded R&D battery
projects worldwide - and although the so-called "one good battery"
seems to be as far away as ever to many observers, including the
insiders atDaimler, I disagree with their assessment. Only a fool
(or a company in a poor patent position) would pass up the chance
to use a far better battery as part of the next step in hybrids.
Of course - the obvious question for the next couple of years,
pending that better-battery going into mass production - is "why
not use a diesel in the Prius-type hybrid ?"
Of course this final solution scenario depends on that elusive
battery, and also to a lesser extent on a light carbon body. I
have mentioned EEStor before. They are now in the news again with
this blip:
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2006/01/kleiner_perkins.html
EEStor Inc. is a Cedar Park, Texas startup which has developed a
breakthrough battery technology - only is sounds more like a
combination of UltraCap and/or BatCap. Apparently a prototype
factory is under construction and may now be ready. The company
was founded in 2001 by Richard D. Weir, Carl Nelson, and Richard
S. Weir, who have backgrounds as senior managers at IBM and Xerox,
not in automotive nor batteries. If the prototype plant is
actually being finished - as rumor has it - then this is a huge
step forward.
According to "Utility Federal Technology Opportunities," EEStor
claims the battery will be half the cost per kilowatt-hour and
one-tenth the weight of lead-acid batteries. Did you get that ?
cheaper than lead-acid per kw and 1/10 the weight for the same
power? Specifically, the anticipated unit weighs 400 pounds and
delivers 52 kilowatt-hours on a fresh charge.
Doesn't sound like that much really, but compare it to what is
available. It definitely fits the minimum requirements of "one
good battery" especially the 10 times less weight per
kilowatt-hour.
The technology is basically a parallel plate capacitor with barium
titanate as the dielectric, plus "something else" - but is a
ceramic-based unit. EEStor was supposed to build (in 2005) an
assembly line - to produce and to vet and supply them in modest
quantity - and then after they prove themselves to license the
technology for volume production. No one is talking as to whether
that has happened of not.
Selling price would start at $3,200 for low volume and fall to
$2,100 in high-volume production. - about $5+ per pound. Lead acid
is less per pound ($1+) but only a tenth as energetic per pound.
NiMH is heavier per unit output and four times costlier for the
same power.
But given the recent history of such announcements - I will be the
first to add the necessary caveat: don't get your hopes up too
high just yet.
BTW. I am still sticking by the assertion, made a few months ago,
that an even better solution for transportation, not immediate but
for the time frame of perhaps 2008 and beyond - even when the "one
good battery" or "bettery" will be a mass-produced reality...
better even than the diesel Prius hybrid with the EEStor battery,
would be a total battery powered design ... but with a small
valveless Wankel as removable (and rentable) backup for longer
trips.
Removable? ... yes, there is no good reason the backup ICE cannot
be a 100 pound genset - and an easily removable-backup ...if it is
light enough; and only the Wankel is light enough. Maybe not light
enough for Mom... but before longer trips ... Deiter, down at the
garage, can handle it or at least he can tell Jose and Manuel how
to do it in about 10 minutes or so, the same time it takes for an
oil change.
For longer trips, since the Wankel is so light-weight, it can be
added into a small compartment that is otherwise used for
storage - or it can be trailerized! It could even be a rented
option - attached with a trailer hitch -which is never used by
many conmutters - those who do not need to go over 60-100 miles
without a recharge.
When you are going on vacation, however, you might swing by the
dealer and have Deiter pop in the backup Wankel, or swing by a
rental company and rent it one a trailer, as the electrical and
fuel connections have already come as a standard packabe, iether
on your batter-powered vehicle or with hookups for the trialer.
This has got to be the best overall answer - batteries for local -
and trailerized (hydrogen or biofuel) engine for occassional
longer trips. Half - or more of all autos could go this route.
