EVS-23 December 3, 2007 23rd Electric Vehicle Symposium

SUSTAINABILITY: The Future of Transportation
copyright 2007

Mark E. Hanson
See www.electricdrive.org for a complete company listing for the exposition or specifically www.evs23.org

Introduction and Executive Summary:

The EVS-23 Symposium was held in Anaheim, California and I primarily focused on the new battery technology since that’s the usual Achilles heal of electric vehicles and “plug-ins”. I’ve noticed this year that battery electrics and plug-ins are returning to the transportation table as a viable way to stop global warming, reduce pollution and wean us from foreign oil. In the past fuel cell’s dominated the symposium but due to University of Washington’s and other university studies showing <20% overall wells to wheel efficiency and recent Li-Ion battery promising development, the battery electric and plug-ins are gaining resurgence as a practical daily driver.

There were several real commercially available EV’s such as the Vectrix motorcycle and Smart car conversions as well as a plug in Prius by Hymotion and others. Toyota announced their plug-in but not a release date. A123 manufactures Li-Ion’s for DeWalt drills proving a lightweight higher power and energy density is available for use in EV’s as demonstrated in Bill Dube’s Killacycle world speed record with these batteries. The battery seminars were heavily attended about double from the other technical tracks. Altairnano claimed an unprecedented 20k cycle life for the life of the car, 15 years. (Thanks to Dave “battery boy” Hawkins and John Bryan for Killacycle set-up).

Opening Plenary Plenary Session Monday Dec 3

Rick Kasper CEO of GEM noted that the time is now for EV’s with a barrel of oil (42 gallons) approaching $100.

James Goldstene, Executive Officer of CARB noted that the California governor is behind anything to wean us from carbon related fuels. He noted that air quality has improved due to increase use of hybrids, plug ins and solar/wind renewable energy use. He noted that CARB is still pushing for zero emissions vehicles. Heavy duty vehicles (SUV’s) must meet the same pollution standards as light duty vehicles (sedans) he noted. Over 200,000 hybrid vehicles are now in use in California. The ZEV mandate was adopted in 1990 but stalled due to battery development. He thought that fuel cells could be demonstrated with six years as well as battery electrics. Plug In hybrids will be commercialized before 2015 and will meet our pure ZEV requirements. With 20 million vehicles sold in California a 20 mile ZEV range on plug ins would meet our pollution goals.

If we don’t get global warming under control we will loose high mountain snow pack provided water needed in this dry climate. It will reduce by 80% with a 5 degree rise and be devastating to our way of life! More floods due to rainfall (instead of snow) and reduced snowpack for water storage will be realized. We want to reduce our levels to 1990 levels. We would like to stabilize the world to 450 parts per million of CO2. Even greater emissions reductions are needed. Most vehicles average 21 miles per gallon. To achieve the 80% reduction goal we need a combination of alternative energy. Plug-ins, biodiesel, ethanol and fuel cells will be used in order to meet our goals. We must stabilize the planet and increase CAFÉ standards.
Brian Wynne President of the EDTA and EVS-23 host spoke about how this event is growing rapidly. (Many thanks to EDTA-Jennifer Watts and the organizers of the EVS-23 event.)

John Byrson CEO of Edison International spoke about how this is a nexus of time and place for the growth of electric vehicles. As the largest utility in southern California he is aware of a large priority in electric transportation. He operates the largest EV fleet of 15 million miles traveled. They want to accelerate plug-in hybrid development and help defray the cost of advanced batteries. They are partnering with EC Irvine and Toyota on plug-in hybrids. We must reduce green house gas emissions while managing cost for our customers with advanced power generation such as wind turbines and renewables. More windpower will be implemented and presently is 15% but has poor peak coincidence though. The air conditioning load occurs at the peak times when wind is low. By the use of EV’s plugging in at night will help offset the peak daytime loads. If a very large demand is shifted then increased utilization would improve electric rates throughout the country. Advanced electric meters will log cheaper off time usage and peak load cut offs.

You could fill a battery at night at low cost levels and use during the day when peak rates are higher.

Susan Cischke VP of Sustainability at Ford Motor Company spoke next. She noted how far we have come but we have a long way to go to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. We are the first generation to question unrestrained growth. We must reduce the CO2 emissions for global warming with a cap & trade system. We are looking for solutions that effect millions of cars applying new technologies on a large scale. Better fuel economy, plug-ins with large scale electrification of our vehicles must be realized. Biofuels must be developed through cellulose sources. Plug-ins will be affordable by 2020. (GM mentioned with their $30k Volt by 2011, my comment). Ford has plans in place for hybrids and plug-ins for 07. The Ford Escape reduces CO2 emissions by 25% over a standard Escape. (The Prius is much better for emissions and fuel economy in my opinion). Ford has developed a partnership with California Edison to release a plug in technology to the consumers. Ford is reducing their emissions from their plants around the world. They have a living roof on their Dearborn, Michigan plant and obtains power from wind turbines. Ford is excited about creating cost effective products for the environment.

Dan Bonawitz with Honda motor company noted that electric drive vehicles will help save the planet for our future and our children’s future. Honda has realized that there is a need to reduce emissions and energy uses in our vehicles with the Insight and hybrid Civics. The Insight gets 70mpg he noted. Beginning with the CVCC engine back in the 70’s that the customer could be satisfied with reduced emissions and energy usage vehicles. We have goals towards to renewable fuels. Honda’s clean diesel will be introduced in 2009. They also have a 2008 natural gas vehicle. The next generation of their hybrids will come out in 2009 and will be cheaper than the present hybrid Civic. It will be both clean and fun to drive he said. They are also looking at fuel cell technology.

Note: The University of Washington (and other University studies) notes that the wells to wheel efficiency of hydrogen is <20% by the time it’s reformed from natural gas, compressed to 10K PSI and transported, then used in a fuel cell. Most conventional technology battery EV’s and plug-ins are better much than that. Electrolysis from renewables also has even lower overall efficiencies. It is for this reason in my observation we will not see cost effective hydrogen vehicles. They however will still be used in the space shuttle and stationary applications where applicable.

Jonathan Lauchner VP of GM’s global program management group spoke about our addiction to petroleum. Global sales volume is 74 million vehicles this year. Only 12% of the world population owns an automobile. 50% of the people will own vehicles by 2020. 35% of the energy needs are petroleum products and will need 70% MORE energy by 2030. Pick your issue but the common denominator is oil and how to displace it’s useage. Improved diesel, ethanol, biodiesel and plug in electrics will be used. The GM E-flex system will be used on vehicles such as the Chevy Volt. Electricity is stored in a LI-ION battery for 40 miles of EV range. Note: A GM spokesman on the convention floor noted that the final model will look more like the EV-1 and the present shape with the impossible to see out the rear window design will not be used. The existing vehicle is moved around with golf cart controls so they don’t have an operating Volt vehicle yet. He noted that the conventional vehicle costs 12c per mile and the EV will cost 2c per mile (not including the amatorized battery cost, my comment). He noted that the Volt will be for a broader mass market over the EV-1 due to it’s hybrid and 4-seater capability. LG Chem, Compact Power and A123 Systems are being looked at for a supplier for the Volt. They are going to start testing battery packs in “mule cars” he said for final use in the Volt. GM invented the starter, auto transmission and catalytic converter and want to meet this challenge as well.

Koei Saga General Manager with Hybrid Toyota Development talked about alternative energy for a new era. He spoke about the millions of tons of CO2 reduction through the use of the Prius hybrid. He noted how much the Prius has improved from the first generation (converted Echo pre-04’) to the next generation 04’ and up vehicles, larger electric motor, battery and controller. Toyota has focused on the gas hybrid since it’s cheaper than the diesel. Biofuels must be carefully selected so their processing doesn’t contribute to increased CO2. Plug-in’s increased cost must be realized he noted.
Note: I drove the new plug-in Prius which was the same as a standard except it had double the battery NIMH (not Li-Ion) pack for an EV range of 7 miles (only) and the vehicle computer was tweaked to allow 60mph operation instead of kicking in the gas motor at 35mph in the standard Prius. They would not talk about cost or availability though (or adding a higher range pack). They are looking for a Japanese Li-Ion battery supplier though. There were several plug-in converters at the show such as Hymotion that upgrade the car (04’ NexGen to present) to a 40-60 mile plug-in EV range for $4-$12k depending on the range and company. See www.plugin.org for more information on these companies.

Duan Ruichan, VP with China Electrotechnical Society talked about EV production in China. He noted that CO2 must be reduced by the useage of EV’s. There are a fast increase of vehicles in China so alternative vehicles must be produced. China is looking at producing Li-Ion battery technology to reduce global warming. They are looking at FCEV’s (fuel cells), HEV’s (hybrids) and PEV’s (pure EV’s). The ministry of science and technology is promoting these industries. This is good news for our economy and reduction of pollution in China’s high polluted cities. They will ave some EV’s ready for the Olympic games next year and the World Expo.

Available EV’s for Purchase:

Also see www.evalbum.com

I saw a China based vehicle that looked like an attractive Nissan Hypermini or Smart Car that is sold for $10k by Revolution Electric Cars www.revolutionev.com Norm Molera 805-541-5788 shipped from California. It’s a 35mph slow speed city car claiming 60 miles range. Daimler had a Smart Car EV but said it wasn’t available however the gas version is now available in the US in 08 and the diesel engine (much better fuel economy) can be ordered.

Vectrix also had a commercially available (about $10k) motorcycle with a 40 mile range at 62mph. I rode this bike and it handled well with regen. See www.vectrix.com to buy this bike. This is a useable EV presently available. I enjoyed driving this motorcycle with regen at the “ride and drive” on Sunday.
Zenn Motor Company www.zenncars.com also had a commercial available vehicle as an NEV 25mph but can bump up the speed to 35mph the spokesperson mentioned since 25mph is very limiting (impeding traffic) in most 35mph city speed limits. The Zenn ran well at the ride and drive on Sunday.
www.gemcar.com has GEM cars for sale as 25mph NEV’s and are trying to get a federal 35mph MEV specification. These are the most popular NEV’s presently sold through Chrysler (recently divorced from Daimler). The GEM handled better than in previous years at the ride and drive on Sunday due to better more automotive steering front end design. Although limited to 25mph it could be bumped up to a more useable 35-45mph if the mid neighborhood federal category is allowed in the future. I put a MC14013 12V flip-flop on the speed sensor on my similar Bombardier that makes it more driveable in the 35-40 mph range.

Daimler is introducing the gas Smart Car with a diesel option that gets 70mpg. This is the cutest car I saw in Monaco and is available in a 2 or 4 seater. They will later come out with an electric (for the US) they said that is presently in use in England. When I sat in it, it was very roomy and excellent surround visibility to see out. See: www.daimler.com

I enjoyed driving the new plug in Prius hybrid from Toyota but it only had a 7 mile range with the previous NIMH technology dual battery pack. It was the same as a standard 48mpg Prius with the 35mph gas motor start kicked up to 62 mph (software tweak) so you can operate in electric only mode at highway speeds. Hymotion and others are fitting in A123 Li-Ion batteries in the same NIMH battery space and getting better range 20-40 miles electric mode and the electric motor assists increasing fuel economy by blending the two (gas & electric) for 100mpg at about 100 miles. Toyota will have to use a Li-Ion to get this electric only range but they are developing their own Li-Ion batteries rather than buying it from another manufacturer (not made in Japan). See www.pluginamerica.com for more information on this viable technology that helps global warming, reduces pollution and weans us from foreign oil. (Pick your issue but driving plug-ins and EV’s will help these issues significantly).

Energy Storage Technical Track:

I focused on the battery developments because “it’s the battery, stupid” that’s traditionally the Achilles heal for EV’s. The motors, controls and chargers have been a mature technology.

On the Energy Storage (1 of 6) technical track Antonio Di Donato talked about design and realization of a series HEV with ultracapacitor storage system used on a bus. The super cap gave the acceleration needed with a boost converter on the ultra cap bank due to the exponential voltage decay of a standard RC time constant. He showed a 5kw peak power on acceleration of the Maxwell Supercap used. In order to use a supercap a boost converter must also be employed.

Frederick Van Mulder of IWT in Brussels talked about supercapacitor enhanced battery traction systems evaluation. He used a similar boost converter to utilize the power stored in the supercap to limit the current required from the batteries on acceleration thus prolonging the battery life.

Mario Conte with Italian Agency for New Technologies talked about “a novel green supercapacitor for electrically driven vehicles”. He is developing a new polymer to increase the 5V supercap energy density to 15 wh/kg. Specific power is 7kw/kg. Cycle life is 100k cycles with a 20% overall reduction in capacitance at end of life. His LHYPOS cap was 1/3rd the weight of the standard Maxwell supercap.
Li-Ion battery comparison:

See www.electricdrive.org (EVS-23) symposium company listing for a complete list.

Note: I went around the convention floor comparing apples to apples asking the same battery parametric questions of the various Li-Ion manufacturers (or hope to be). Both A123 and Valence had the most commercially viable or presently available Li-Ion batteries with the fire issues addressed (by adding iron phosphate). The A123’s were small cylindrical cells but the Valence batteries were packaged better for standard use into EV type batteries.
A123 Systems www.a123systems.com is presently in use on Dewalt drills (subsidiary of GE-Black & Decker) and also chosen by Bill Dube on his World Record Killacycle, fastest electric motorcycle. A123 claims 7K cycle 80% DOD life for their Lithium phosphate batteries made in China. Some users I talked to said it was more like 2K cycles however. The internal resistance was 10 milli-ohms, cost was 75c per watt hour and availability is in demo form and individual cylindrical cells with a battery management system. They were vague about charging and equalizing requirements though. (Most manufacturers post their charging and battery characteristics in apps notes on web sights.) So charging/equalizing is critical on Li-Ions, standard charge/equalizing information is easy to find on google and companies such as www.freescale.com and www.linear.com that make Li-Ion charging IC’s. A123 had a standard 12V sealed battery same size as a sealed type battery that’s used in electric lawnmowers and emergency lights (those twin flood lights in the corner of the ceiling that come on when the power goes out). Their battery was only 4.6AH however and the lead battery standard is 7-9ah depending on the manufacturer. This is due to the cylindrical nature of the A123 battery and the inablility to pack them in as tightly as a rectangular type cell construction.

Valence Technologies www.valence.com also used a similar chemical process but packaged their batteries in standard group 24 and group 27 sizes that they said are available now. They said that their standard auto type 12V battery is 1k-2.5k cycle life at 80% DOD with similar 10 milli-ohm internal resistance. The E24, 122ah battery is $1 per watt-hour and at 100ah he said the battery was $1300 in small EV quantities. The additional battery management controller required was $130 for the car (group to 20 batteries equalized from 1 controller). The Valance battery is available now direct from the factory called the “Epoch E24”. The price is still about 10x of a standard 12V lead battery but is significantly lighter with double the watt-hours stored per size (due to the rectangular construction.Altair Nano www.altairnano.com used on Phoenix Motorcars EV claimed 15k 80% DOD cycles using a different Lithium Titanate chemistry at $2.4 per watt-hour. They didn’t give the internal resistance though and said I couldn’t buy the battery. They would work with OEM’s they said. They have a standard size battery 13.8V 1.2kwh 88ah package 382mm x 159mm x 233mm.

Johnson Controls www.johnsoncontrols.com who bought Saft were getting into Li-Ion but didn’t have any as yet, primarily the standard sealed lead acid batteries they sold for years. He said they didn’t support my Ni-Cad STM5-180’s anymore and Ni-Cads plates do disintegrate and can NOT be refurbished as previously mentioned on the evlist. He can recycle them at the end of life (3k cycles) but that’s the end of them and changing the electrolyte will NOT rejuvenate them.

Yuasa www.gs-yuasa.com claimed 15k cycles with their Li-Ion LEV-50 battery but was vague on the other chemical doping (if iron was added or phosphate to reduce fires). Their cost was $2.5 per watt hour and said the LEV-50 battery would be available to purchase in the summer of 08. They claimed 8 milli-ohms internal resistance.

Electrovaya www.electrovaya.com had a Lithium Polymer battery in testing but still not yet available for off-the-shelf purchase.

Battery Solutions:

Christian Rosenkranz with Johnson Controls-Saft noted in the Monday 2:45-4:15 session that Lithium is the battery answer for battery powered vehicles. His presentation was entitled Modern Battery Systems for Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles. He noted that the Li-Ion battery is much better than the NIMH optimized for performance & cost. They are working on the battery management software which he said is critical. They are testing Li-Ion batteries and NIMH of their design. Their Li-Ion will have high energy as well as power required for an EV. He noted that we should not get electricity from coal since that makes global warming worse.

Ahmad Pesaran with NREL (DOE) gave a talk on battery requirements for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, analysis and rationale. $14M was approved for help with plug in hybrids from the federal government and $20M for the following year. He compared power requirements from standard cars to SUV’s showing that cars were the best for vehicle range, about twice as good due to weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics.

The next plug-in hybrid battery solutions subject was High Power and Long Life Lithium Batteries for HEV’s by Takaaki Iguchi, Corporate R&D Center of Yuasa Corporation. Since Yuasa is now making lithium batteries that should be available next year, he talked about how much better Li-Ion batteries are compared to NIMH. He noted that they don’t catch fire by use of a 3-metal oxide. Their LiNiCoMnO2 battery “EH6” is 3.7V @ 6ah. NASA Aerospace Battery Workshop Nov 27-29 2001 in Huntsville Alabama showed charge discharge cycles of different battery chemistries with Li-Ion winning out. They showed 82% retention after 10K cycles on the graph. After 10 months on the shelf the battery discharges to 70% of it’s original charge. They expect 15 year life for 150k miles. He said it costs $1 per watt hour. He said it might be available next summer. The cell impedance is 2.5milli-ohms.
Paul Nelson with Argonne National Labs gave a talk on Advanced Li-Ion batteries for plug-in hybrid EV’s. He reviewed 5 battery Li-Ion chemistries and showed that LiMn2O4Li4Ti5O12 was the best (Maganese lithium titanate nano-scale) battery. The voltage is lower at 2.52V at 9 milli-ohms and low cost. It can be discharged up to a 50C rate (in 92 seconds). High power is available to 98% discharge. Hi noted it’s better than the standard 3.4V lithium iron cell for longevity and safety as well as internal resistance. 15 year life is a real requirement so they can stay in the life of the vehicle. He did 2000 100% DOD cycles and the battery is still operating. He is targeting the GM Volt for this battery. This will provide 100kw at 90% open circuit voltage with no transmission. He rated the 20 mile range tested at 300Wh per mile. This battery is air cooled and due to the low internal resistance it ran cool. He tested with a series engine configuration hybrid. Acceleration was 6.2 seconds to 60 mph for a 3500 lb Prius. The overall battery efficiency was 97%. The lithium-manganese spinel/lithium-titanate battery is proven to be the best battery for plug-in hybrids. This battery is being made by Enerdel, Inc www.enerdel.com but not yet available for prime time.

Lithium-Ion Batteries in EV/PHEV Applications by Kurt Kelty of Tesla Motors showed his fast sports car using thousands of cells wired together for the Lotus Elise type car. It’s a 53kWh pack with a 150kw AC motor. The car is $100k and have 600 orders for 2008 to rich people, movie stars etc. 6831 cells are used with 120wh per kg. Using the 18650 AA cell from a Japanese supplier. Each cell is fused to prevent thermal runaway and maintain 35C battery max temperature and make sure of voltage window. Make sure a thermal runaway does not propagate to another cell. Smoke, Temp & moisture sensors are included. They passed the crash tests into the car with the batteries. They’re using Lithium metal oxide presently. The cells are bypassed if they die for a good MTBF he said. They will offer a 100k 5 year warranty on the battery.

White Star Tesla will be introduced in 2010 for $50k that seats 5.

Batteries; Energy Storage Tuesday Dec 4, 07 Tech Track

Peter Pichler with Magna Steyr’s seminar was on development of Li-Ion battery systems for HEV applications. He built Li-Ion packs from multiple cells and paralleled cells in vehicle demonstrations. They initially started with NiMh which needed some intercell cooling but with lower 15-9 milli-ohm the Li-Ion batteries do not need additional cooling. They are doing the electronic development for charging and cell equalizing with overvoltage clamping. He prefers Lithium iron Phosphate as the chemistry of choice for best overall operation and fire safety.

James Barnes, PHD talked about the DOE Energy Storage R&D program. He received millions from the US government to develop and prove out a better battery. They have a PHEV goal to get EV’s back on the road. They are testing abuse tolerance and cost reduction. Calendar life needs to be for the life of the vehicle and low temperature is a challenge. It is not trivial to put a hybrid battery into a plug-in version. People want a trunk and a back seat so plug-ins become a challenge. Presently Li-Ion batteries are still in development and the DOE hopes to accelerate the appropriate technology to commercialization. The dollar funding to develop a better battery is going up from 42 to 62 million this year with the help of the democratic congress. A123 batteries got their funding success from DOE SBIR (small business innovative research) funding. Battery development by Argonne labs is where most of the battery government development occurs with grants to universities. Li-Ion is the main battery focus. We are evolving from standard hybrids to in the last few years to plug-in hybrids or full electric cars.

Shinya Kitano from GS Yuasa Corp talked about their lithium-ion battery module for EV’s. He noted a 1000 80% DOD cycle life but in the booth on the convention floor they claimed 15k cycles. (Reality is typically closer to 1K – 2K 80% DOD cycles for Li-Ion)

Andrew Chu with A123 Systems talked about the A123 Li-Ion phosphate battery that’s made in China and used in 36V, 28V, 18V Dewalt Black & Decker power tools. They received an SBIR that helped make them successful from MIT Labs. They have a Hymotion group in Canada for Prius conversions to plug-in. They are progressing down the cost curve due to the high volume sales in these battery power tools for power/safety/life. The 7.82 seconds 0-60 MPH in less than a second with A123 batteries on Bill Dube’s Killacycle demonstrates the viable use for EV’s. They have removed the oxide from the cathode that removes the heat from the cell so it doesn’t heat up since it has no oxygen reaction. So fire is not an issue or having to cool the batteries during operation. Sandia National Labs has a graph shown that in 18650 type cells that A123 will not catch fire even when heated to 250C under load. It heats up at 20c per minute during thermal runaway so since it’s slow it can be easily detected and stopped. They have a cycle life graph shown at 6500 cycles for 80% DOD. The new 32113 cell is used for high power EV applications. They have millions of cells in the industry in use meeting requirements. The new flat-pack cell “M-1” will be easier to package than the cylindrical cells.

Taison Tan with EnerDel Inc. spoke about their Li-Ion batteries made in Indiana. Their cell chemistry is different with manganese added for the positive electrode and a lower 2.5V cell than traditional Li-Ions. Titanate is used on the negative electrode. They have high power safety and longer life but somewhat lower energy density. They use 108 vs 100 cells for an EV application. The battery was overcharged heated and nails were poked through the batteries with max temperature 90C but no fires. The useable cycle life is 3K cycles at 80% DOD. They have packed their cells in a package for mild hybrid Prius cars. They have 24 cells in a pack for 50kW of power. I asked him how much it was and he said it’s not available. (They are similar to Altair-Nano battery chemistry used in Phoenix Motorcars).

Battery Storage Innovations Continued 2nd session

Note: The battery seminars were doubled in size by removing a wall between two lecture halls to make room for twice the anticipated people interested in a better battery.

Chengtao Lin with Tsinghua University, China showed a battery powered bus they are testing at their university with 30 passengers. They used Thunder Sky (which has quality issues) and other China based companies for their bus. He showed that adding iron to Li-Ion to reduce fires also has the unwanted effect of increasing internal resistance so it’s a tradeoff. The energy efficiency of NiMh is poor, about 70% he noted (charge back 1.3X). Li-Ion is >90% energy efficiency as well as having twice the energy density. Lithium iron phosphate is the best he said.

Veselin Manev with Altairnano talked about high-power HEV battery with Li4Ti5o12 negative electrode battery (similar to Enerdel tested by Argonne Labs above). They claim 20k 80% DOD and 15 year life! No safety fire problems he claimed. The internal resistance is only 2.5 milli-ohms making it excellent for high current/power delivery on acceleration. After 25k cycles they still retain 80% of their capacity. The cell is also 2.5V like EnerDel. You can discharge down to 1.5V which he called 100% DOD. After 4 months there is a 80% cell charge potential self discharge rate. The “NanoSafe” Gen 2 battery has excellent cycle life and power output. (He wouldn’t give a straight answer to me about the battery cost and availability though, said he didn’t know how much it was or when it’s available.)

Hideaki Horie with Nissan Research Center had a study on advanced Lithium-Ion batteries for EV’s. He showed the Hypermini EV test program. He said 60Kwh is needed for a battery for an EV to give a 120-180 mile range required.

Mo-Hua Yang with Industrial Technology Research Institute talked about an 8ah Li-Ion battery for EV’s. They used their 40 cell battery module in a 144V car. They are using LiMn2O4 cathode material. The battery is 112mm x 69mm x 39mm 3.2V battery. They tested at the Freedom Car initiative. A mixed cathode cell increases cycle life substantially. The short circuit test showed no fire, no explosion and battery went to 50C.

Patrick Brent PHD Polymer Scientist with Exxon-Mobil Chemical division spoke about their battery separator they sell for Li-Ion battery manufacturing. When Exxon developed the separator there were no batteries but by 91’ they could be used especially with the explosive growth of portable electronics though the late 90’s.The battery separator film is a fibrous network composed of stacked lamella crystals. The fill is 7-30 microns thick about that of a human hair. The separator is a polymer (polyethylene). They combined from a company, Tonen Chemical, to make a better separator that combined with the polymer to a “Coex” technology. Now with a high meltdown temperature demonstrated safety is greatly improved. The battery is shut down if the polymer melts thus making a fail-safe design. I asked him which batteries his separators were used but he wouldn’t say.

Energy Infrastructure Tuesday Afternoon

Xcel Energy, Michael Lamb did a study on “Tomorrow’s Intelligent Grid” and did a vehicle demonstration program using the new lithium ion battery packs. They are using a 6kw charger for fast charging.

Joel Danforth of Global Energy Intelligence talked about load leveling of the power grid by using plug in hybrids and EV’s. The PHEV has a 10kW storage for about 30 miles range. He showed the peak daily summer load as double the night time load and how EV’s plugged in at night would level the load without any additional generators needed.

Alec Brooks of Tesla Motors talked about a vehicle to grid demonstration program with PG&E. Basically preaching to the choir he recommended charging at night to reduce peak demand. He talked about regulation for ancillary services due to fluctuating wind power. (Thus you could charge your car by “tuning” the charge time under power plant radio control to your electric car.) He noted that they are now paying 15c per kWh a high rate in the nation. (I pay 13c in Roanoke, VA C&B Co-op that doubled from a few years ago).

Sankar DasGupta from Electrovaya talked about their lithion-ion superpolymer high performance battery for long range ZEV’s, HEV’s and PHEV’s. “It’s The Batteries Stupid” he noted as the bottleneck for EV implementation. Batteries must be safe and low cost. Electrovaya makes flat batteries for better packing density than cylindrical batteries. They are polymer nano structured batteries in 15V and 48V modules. The lithium iron phosphate cells and now their MN series cells that have double the energy density of the phosphate cells. They do several different lithium chemistries to stay with the best of the moment. Energy density is optimized is 200 Wh/kg. They make a large battery from 30ah cells and do not do cylindrical cells at their Canada and India plants. Lithium is 20 times better than hydrogen in energy density and he noted hydrogen will not make it in the market place for EV’s for this reason. LiCo2, LiFePO4 and lithium polymer are the three chemistries that are being used for EV’s but the latter is the best for energy density. They have a battery management system with a canbus and RS-232 link for host monitoring. It will operate from 48 to 710V battery voltages. They have some in operation on Ford Escapes. They can put 15kWh in a small tight package. (All the lithium suppliers also have a BMS that goes with the battery since equalization and individual charging is critical). They are working with Electrotherm scooters. He showed a full electric polymer battery delivery van saving $15k per year over a standard hybrid.EV’s as a Grid Load Leveler:

Richard Cromie with Southern California Edison spoke about demand response for fork lifts and golf carts with 300MW of battery charging for these non-road equipment EV’s. He noted that on road EV’s are only in the kw range presently. 47% of goods that come into the US come into California ports first. There are many million square foot big box distribution centers east and north of LA with 400 forklifts typical per building. All these industries now have off peak load control to not charge from 2pm to 6pm in the summer. 9.1 megawatts was shifted permanently to off peak hours. 5275 chargers were affected. Battery charging during the day represents 25% of the building load in distribution centers and typically they save $50k per summer per building. These were everyone from Lowe’s & US Battery to Toyota & Trojan mega distribution centers. Battery chargers need to have an idle power off feature, some waist 300W while not in use. Ferroresonant chargers are fairly efficient but not as sensitive to the charge cycle. The newer HF solid state chargers are smarter but the MTBF isn’t as good.

Hybrid Trains:

Lembit Salasoo PHD with GE Global Research (18 patents) talked about application of batteries to hybrid locomotives and mine trucks. 3.3MW of motor power is needed to power a locomotive. Mine haul trucks are 2.6MW during motoring for a hybrid AC electric motor. 2.5% national fuel usage is from the railroad industry. Typical hauls are 900 miles average distance from coastal shipyards and coal to power plants. He showed saving 10% energy with regeneration braking on locomotives. 1300kW (1750hp) are needed for regen capability to slow the train. NA-NiCL2 (sodium nickel chloride) batteries are used in hybrid locomotives presently under development. The locomotive already has a diesel electric drive and integrating in the hybrid train is in keeping with the “Ecomagination” GE green requirements. Union & Pacific participated in the hybrid demonstration locomotive number 2010 painted green (presumably the commercial introduction date). Mine truck operators live & die by efficiency and productivity tons/hour. The sodium nickel battery was also chosen for this application as well.

Energy Storage; Demonstration Programs, Wed Dec 5

Dominik Karbowski with Argonne National Labs spoke about the impact of component size on plug-in hybrid vehicle energy consumption. He graphed the current, voltage and energy use of a Ford Escape type SUV while driving under various conditions.

New Higher Power AC Drives:

Jon Lutz with UQM Tecnologies (Unique Mobility) showed a 150kw (200hp) BLDC 3 phase drive that’s sine output instead of previous trapezoidal output (similar to AC induction drive). They use neodendium permanent magnets for better efficiency. I remember when they converted Hummers to hybrids a few years ago in the late 90’s for stealth mode in the military using their previous 100kw drive. They now have torque, speed and voltage control depending on the application for hybrid or pure EV’s. They have a GUI (graphical user interface) on the control so the user can set up the control and set all parameters such as acceleration and max speed limits. It displays temperature, voltage and motor current as well as battery parameters to not exceed the max power or minimum battery voltage. You can program creep torque to simulate an auto transmission feel and regen to simulate “engine like braking” similar to a ICE (gas engine). This system can be used as a series or parallel hybrid. This looks like a good control for heavy vehicles and easy to set up for OEM’s to shorten their time to market. The price is starting in the low $30’s and going down to $10k in high volume.

Joshua Goldman with ISE Corporation talked about modern hybrid electric transit buses in driving development. They have been doing heavy hybrid 40 foot buses. They have designed bio fuel buses as well as hydrogen and diesel/gas/E85 hybrid buses. They pair together a 40kw V10 engine with a AC drive motor using Canbus to interconnect the electronics control. The start up from curbside is the noisiest operation traditionally and hybridization eliminates the obnoxious start up noise from curbside. They are doing a series hybrid sleek looking bus for Las Vegas with 400kW capable power using Siemens AC motor/drive with heat pump air conditioning. They also have natural gas buses in LA. They have a direct burn hydrogen engine bus with the help of Ford design team. They also have a PEM fuel cell design that’s operating from a windmill in Palm Springs, California to produce hydrogen. They have a 40’ Lithium Ion electric and hybrid bus in use and have done electric hybrid trucks for the military without any heat signature and silent operation. They showed some hybrid trash trucks (gas or diesel) in operation. They got a 10-20% improvement by electrifying power steering, air compressor and air conditioning (instead of taking the power directly off the engine.) Braking resistors are used for initial start where power can’t be put directly back during regen (so the battery won’t get overcharged) in the electric bus. They designed an integrated Siemens drive system that can be dropped in various gas/diesel hybrid buses. (All their hybrids, trucks/buses use the Siemens AC drive). They have DC-DC converters they designed to run accessories with their microcomputer EV controls designed in house. A typical bus runs 300 miles a day he noted.

Closing Plenary:

Cristin Lindsay Senior Director for the X-Prize program talked about the Automotive X-Prize and how a dedicated small group can change the world. She talked about the Burt Rutan $10M X-Prize winner for personal space exploration. This is why the X-Prize works, it brings media attention to inspire innovators and make heroes of the winners. The goal of the auto X-Prize is to make viable super vehicles that are production capable at 100mpg thus weaning us off our oil addiction. These must be affordable vehicles that can be practically manufactured. EV’s will also do well in this competition. www.auto.xprize.org is the website to design the most efficient vehicle. Vehicle must meet 100mpg or 100mpge (equivalent) for EV’s. Qualified vehicles will compete in a race series to win the prize so it will be exciting for the media/public to follow. The program will by announced early in 2008. There will be a race in 2009 and the grand prize awarded in 2010. Thus we will have super-efficient vehicles ready for production as a result of this effort. Presently 46 teams have signed a letter of intent around the world. Government agencies (DOE, NREL, CARB etc.) are involved in supporting the Universities and groups involved. We expect the media to be an important motivator, she added. These will be real cars people can buy. You can share your expertise with a team she mentioned.

Rick Kasper of GEM (Global Electric Motors) referred to the EV engineers as Evisionaries and introduced Robert Stussi with AVERE (European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles). He spoke of DG Transport and Energy that’s funded for 5 years 07-13’ to develop EV’s and hybrids. The main thrust is to do more with less for best energy efficiency. This will produce a new culture for urban mobility, he said. He noted that the main purpose of this international convention is communication and networking to open doors between people and companies.

Alan Juppe from Bordeaux, France received an EVS-23 award for developing clean cars in their city. He said we must fix global warming on a global level he noted. They now have a nationwide campaign to develop and implement EV’s and hybrids. He developed a plan to phase out inefficient vehicles.
Professor C.C. Chan with University of Hong Kong and president of EVAAP (Electric Vehicle Association of the Asia Pacific) spoke of their initiatives to develop efficient hybrids and EV’s with batteries or fuel cells. The ultimate goal is zero emissions he noted with advanced power trains. He noted that demand for oil is exceeding supply as we passed peak oil. They are trying to reduce costs on innovative drive trains so the public can afford them in high numbers where they make a difference. There will also be reduced costs micro hybrids that have a lower voltage assist thus using smaller gas engines. The bottleneck is the battery he noted. The energy density must be increased by 3 times and the price reduced by 3 times to make affordable EV’s and hybrids. Biofuels will also be included, he said. He showed the Prius development cycle and the sales increase rapidly in the last few years. In Korea there are fuel efficient vehicles being produced and now China is looking at efficient vehicle development. They now have hybrid buses developed and used there. The E-bike is being made their which reduces pollution of the many motorcycles used there in cities. India’s REVA car is being manufactured for London with 2000 on the road presently. The mild hybrid is he main mass produced vehicle then comes the plug-in hybrid and has higher reduction in CO2 reduction but is more expensive. We are succeeding in these areas he mentioned.

Dr. Prasad Gade general manager for Hybrid Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles talked about the concern for the environment and reducing pollution through the use of these vehicles. India is developing cost effective EV’s and fuel efficient vehicles. A “Bijlee” EV 3-wheel vehicle is being produced and used in India and also making 4 wheel vehicles.

Brian Wynne president of Electric Drive Transportation Association spoke about the tremendous growth of this conference and the public awareness for sustainable transportation. One third of green house gases come from the transportation sector. All the cars would need to be EV’s by 2020 to eliminate this segment of usage. Once a policy path is set it’s difficult to alter so we must get it right the first time. The democratic congress is now supporting the electric drive industry.

He noted that Mexico City is being changed to target cleaner vehicle solutions through Mexico City’s Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. He received an award for his efforts in transforming Mexico City to cleaner transportation.