[ad_1]
US experts have developed a new electric car battery that recharges in just 10 minutes and lasts 250 miles on a single charge.
EV batteries are made from lithium iron phosphate, known for its “ unsurpassed safety ”, and can quickly heat up and cool down – the key to fast charging and long life.
They quickly heat up to 140 ° F for charging and discharging, then cool when the battery is not in use.
The system could tackle “range anxiety” – drivers’ fears that they won’t have enough charge on their electric vehicle (EV) to get them to their destination.
Researchers say their battery is expected to last over 2 million kilometers in a lifetime and would be “ a well-balanced powertrain for mainstream electric vehicles ” if it were to be marketed.
A thermally modulated battery for consumer electric vehicles with no range concerns and unsurpassed safety, low cost and no cobalt content is being developed by a team of engineers at Penn State.
“There’s no longer any range anxiety and this battery is affordable,” said Chao-Yang Wang of Penn State University in the United States.
“Very fast charging allows us to reduce the size of the battery without causing range anxiety.”
According to Wang, these batteries can produce a large amount of energy by heating – 40 kilowatt hours and 300 kilowatts of power.
An electric vehicle equipped with this battery could go from zero to 60 miles per hour in three seconds and run like a Porsche, he said.
“We have developed a fairly smart battery for consumer electric vehicles with cost parity with combustion engine vehicles,” Wang said.
“This is how we are going to change the environment and not just contribute to luxury cars. Let everyone afford electric vehicles.
Batteries have three main components: the anode, cathode and electrolyte.
Electrolyte is usually a chemical that separates the anode and cathode and shifts the flow of electric charge between the two.
The battery uses a self-warming approach developed previously in Wang’s center. In the photo, EV car battery (stock image)
Lithium being a highly reactive element, it stores a large amount of energy.
Lithium-ion batteries use a liquid electrolyte – a flammable liquid made from carbon.
But this liquid electrolyte is often flammable, and has been blamed for lithium-ion batteries that ignite when overheated, for example.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a type of lithium-ion battery, are an alternative.
They use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode material, are already in use in electric vehicles, and are known for their safety.
This new battery is also lithium iron phosphate but is described as a “thermally modulated LFP”.
It uses a self-heating approach previously developed in Wang’s lab, Penn State’s Electrochemical Engine Center.
The self-heating battery uses a thin sheet of nickel with one end attached to the negative terminal and the other extending outside the cell to create a third terminal.
Once the electrons flow, it quickly heats the nickel foil through resistance heating and heats up the inside of the battery.
Once the internal temperature of the battery is 140 ° F, the switch opens and the battery is ready for rapid charge or discharge.
The key to long life and fast charging is the battery’s ability to quickly heat up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for charging and discharging, and then cool down when the battery is not working.
Wang’s team also used inexpensive materials for the battery cathode and anode, and a safe low-voltage electrolyte.
The cathode is thermally stable lithium iron phosphate, which does not contain any of the expensive and critical materials like cobalt.
While the anode is made of super coarse particle graphite which is safe, light and inexpensive material.
Due to self-heating, researchers said they didn’t have to worry about uneven lithium deposition on the anode, which can cause dangerous lithium spikes.
“This battery has reduced weight, bulk and cost,” said Wang, author of an article on the results that was published in Nature Energy.
“I am very happy that we have finally found a battery that will benefit the general public.”
Range anxiety is seen as a major barrier to the large-scale adoption of all-electric vehicles – something the UK government wants to see in the next 10 years.
It bans the sale of gasoline and diesel cars from 2030, with the aim of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and meeting the government’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Britain’s first electric car forecourt opened near Braintree, Essex, in December, with the ability to simultaneously recharge the batteries of 36 rechargeable cars.
The petrol / diesel ban means the UK needs new, efficient and fast charging methods to complement more EV charging ports across the country.
In December, Britain’s first forecourt reserved for electric vehicles opened in Braintree, Essex, giving drivers the option of recharging their vehicles.
The gas station has 36 EV charging stations and shops, including a WHSmith, post office, gym and wellness area for visitors to practice yoga for drivers while their electric vehicles are charging.
The EV forecourt is the first in a £ 1 billion nationwide grid of 100 substations planned over the next five years.
Meanwhile, the city of Coventry is working on a Scalextric-style wireless charging system, which will potentially charge electric vehicles while they’re on the move.
Scalextric-style roads that charge electric vehicles on the go could soon be built in Coventry to tackle autonomy anxiety
Known as Dynamic Wireless Charging (DWC), the technology is said to ensure uninterrupted power supply for electric vehicles in motion.
Coventry is evaluating the feasibility of a Scalextric-like technology that would charge electric vehicles (EVs) as they go.
Known as Dynamic Wireless Charging (DWC), the technology is said to ensure uninterrupted power supply for electric vehicles in motion.
The £ 419,000 ‘DynaCov’ project, backed by Coventry City Council, Toyota, National Express and others, would see electric coils drowned under asphalt on parts of the city’s roads.
These coils, which would be connected to an AC power supply, would wirelessly transmit power to a receiver in the wheels of the vehicles.
The electricity would then be relayed from the receiver to the EV’s battery, providing it with a continuous source of power while traveling.
Usually, electric vehicles have to be stationary for recharging when plugged into charging stations on roadsides and in parking lots, which takes up valuable time for drivers.
DWC can be installed in cars or even larger vehicles like buses or trucks, allowing them to recharge on the go and reduce the number of stops, which saves time.
The system could also tackle range anxiety – the fear of drivers not having enough charge on their electric vehicle to get them to their destination.
British non-profit research company Cenex, another backer of the project, told MailOnline that it would be possible to retrofit existing electric vehicles with the technology required for dynamic wireless charging, although this can be quite expensive. .
However, many electric vehicle manufacturers, including BMW and Tesla, are already integrating wireless charging technology into their vehicles.
Read more: Coventry is working on Scalextric-style EV charging on the go
[ad_2]
Source link