Ramping Up the Electric Car Battery
By Ron Cogan
The quest to develop high energy and affordable batteries for electric cars has been underway for years, with many companies making significant investments in what appeared to be a lucrative opportunity. This took on new importance in the 1990s with the drive to commercialize electric cars to meet California’s 1998 Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. Companies ramped up to develop batteries of varying technologies suitable for EV use, ranging from nickel-metal-hydride and advanced lead-acid to zinc-air, zinc slurry, zinc-bromine, lithium, sodium-sulfur, and other chemistries. Hundreds of millions of dollars were invested. Still, the goal remains illusive and the search continues today. This report is reprinted from Green Car’s March 1995 issue to highlight just a few of the many battery programs underway at the time.
RAMPING UP THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 1995 Independent work on four companies' versions of advanced electric vehicle batteries, including lead-acid, zinc-air, and nickel-metal-hydride, is progressing at the laboratory, pilot testing, fabrication, and marketing levels. Electrosource (Austin, TX) has signed a $2.04 million contract to supply its Horizon advanced lead acid batteries this year to power EVs made by Solarmax (Sarasota, FL), an EV manufacturer and retrofitter. Solarmax plans to use the Horizon batteries in conversion EVs and in electric variants it's designing and manufacturing.
The number and capacity of batteries purchased was not disclosed. Results of daily highway performance testing of the batteries conducted since November "have been impressive," comments Solarmax president Dennis Sauve, "and we are certain the battery will make a significant positive impact on our customers and the performance of our vehicles."
Michael G. Semmens, president and chairman of Electrosource, expects to follow up this first order with several more significant contracts that will continue to validate the efficacy of Horizon battery technology for cost-effective EVs. The 140-employee company, which maintains a manufacturing facility in San Marcos, Texas, recently announced a manufacturing agreement with Metropolitan Industries of Bombay, India, and a distribution agreement with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding of Tokyo.
Separately, Electric Fuel Corp. (New York, NY) begun construction of a $2 million plant near Jerusalem, Israel, to produce zinc-air battery packs and related components for its "Electric Fuel" system. When fully operational, the 20,000 sq. ft. plant is designed to fabricate the equivalent of 60,000 kilowatt-hours of zinc cassettes and 20,000 kWh of battery cells annually. Initially, the EFC batteries will be made for the Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst (German Postal Service) upcoming field test of 50 EVs. The plant will produce 80-kilowatt-hour and 160-kWh batteries for use in Opel and Mercedes vehicles participating in the test.
Additionally, Zinc Air Power Corp. (Canton, MI) announced plans to create an applications laboratory and pilot plant of up to 50,000 sq. ft. in southeastern Michigan or northwestern Ohio to develop and produce a battery capable of powering electric vehicles on a commercial basis. Financing will be handled through a private placement. The battery will be based on electrically rechargeable zinc-air technology developed with Dreisbach Electromotive, Inc. (Santa Barbara, CA).
With the new facility, Zinc Air will employ two laboratories, explained Dana Drescher, company president and CEO. 'The Santa Barbara facility will continue to focus on the basic research necessary to meet the long-term performance standards for EVs set by the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium. Our Midwestern facility will focus directly on adapting zinc-air technology to the needs of the individual automotive industry customers." Formerly known as DEMI Vehicle Systems, Zinc Air was formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1993.
Zinc-air batteries already have powered several mile stone EVs, the company points out, including a Chrysler minivan that ran 223 miles on a charge at an average speed of 45 mph; a Honda Civic that ran nearly 200 km in two hours to win an EV stock car race; and another Civic that ran 251 miles in traffic on a single charge.
Finally, the nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) joint venture battery program by General Motors and Ovonic Battery Co. appears to be on track for meeting development and cost goals. Robert Stempel, the former chairman of GM now responsible for overseeing the GM/Ovonic collaboration, has been quoted as stating the first EV production line is under construction and will be running by year's end, with expansion of the line possible
to meet any demand.
While costs will initially be high, Stempel says the cost target of $150 per kilowatt-hour can be met once three-shift, full-scale production takes place. Stempel has contended that NiMH batteries in dedicated EVs can provide a 200 mile single-charge driving range, with battery replacement not required for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles.
Want to know more about electric cars? Be sure to check out these articles on GreenCar.com:
Phoenix Electric Sports Utility Truck
Sunray and Kudo Electric Cruise Cars
Ford Ecostar EV
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