CSIRO's UltraBattery to cut cost of hybrid battery by $2,000 in two years
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has developed a hybrid car battery that costs 70 percent less all while charging faster, providing 50 percent more power and recharging more times, increasing the life of battery by 300 percent. CSIRO's so called UltraBattery combines technologies of the capacitor and a regular lead-acid battery to make a better battery. Capacitors and batteries working together is not a new thing but the Ultrabattery gets the advantages without using control electronics.
The batteries have undergone testing in a Honda Insight for the last year in the UK and just passed 100,000 miles. "After all this testing we are now very confident we can support medium hybrids or even full, plug-in hybrids," says David Lamb, leader of CSIRO's low emissions transport research. The test car was not perfect and David admits "it is 17kg heavier and that creates a fuel consumption penalty of 2.8 percent. But it is about one quarter of the cost, so you save around $2000 on the cost of building the car."
2.8 percent loss in fuel economy for $2,000 in savings sounds like a good deal to me. David thinks Japanese automakers (the battery was produced in Japan by Furukawa Battery Company) will think it's a good deal too and says that we'll be able to buy UltraBatteries in just two years. "They will have had these batteries on test for a year and if they have done as well as that car in England they will be as thrilled as we are and will be doing their best to find ways to milk the technology in some future model. But they don't tell us what they are doing," explains David.
I can't wait! Move over Ener1, I have a new favorite battery.
[Source: TG Daily, iTWire, tipster Chris]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave 8:34PM (1/20/2008)
Move over Ener1?
let's not get crazy - this is a report on an "idea", its vaporware. Ener1 and AltairNano, A123 etc... they make batteries -now- why shouldn't we think they'll get better and cheaper as production scales up and they collect more data? Why can't they combine ultracaps with Lithium Titanate?
So CSIRO - kudos etc... but lets not let this get out of hand.
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rmontgomery 9:04PM (1/20/2008)
""They will have had these batteries on test for a year and if they have done as well as that car in England"
Once they test in Green Bay, Wi for a year, then I will be impressed!
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mike 9:32PM (1/20/2008)
What ever happened to the Insight? Seems it would sell very well today.
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Joseph 11:26PM (1/20/2008)
How can lead-acid batteries provide 300% more battery life?
Lead-acid batteries are really pretty bad, and that's why the far superiour NiMH take their place. Remember the EV1? It went 50+ miles on lead-acid and the NiMH version went 100+ miles. (Those are convervative numbers) So, a lead-acid battery holds about half the energy of NiMH, therefore making using this battery in Toyota and Two-Mode hybrids (which already have big battery packs)unrealistic. Regular lead-acid batteries really do suck.
So obviosuly, I'm very skeptical.
(Just by the way, I love the Honda Insight!)
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tankd0g 10:31AM (1/21/2008)
What's a "hybrid car battery"? Is this battery incapable of providing electricity to any other device?
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Lascelles Linton 11:29PM (1/20/2008)
Dave, It has more to do with the anticipation of release than anything. I think Ener1 has something this year while Ultrabatery is two years away. Once Ultrabattery comes closer to reality, I expect some of those numbers to come down a bit. The real world is not a test track. I think Ener1 has good, new technology even though they have been accused of hyping a little.
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Joseph 11:42PM (1/20/2008)
@ Mike
The Honda Insight was discontinued in 2006.
It has the world's lower drag of coefficient (0.25) of any "mass" produced vehicle (besides the EV1, which about only 1,000 were ever produced compared to well over 15,000 for the Insight)
It was the first hybrid sold in America in 99 of December.
It is the most fuel-efficient gasoline car in the world. It has the WORLD's LOWEST CO2 emmisions of ANY MASS PRODUCED VEHICLE @ just 80g of CO2 per km!!!!
It is made of 100% aluminium, which is extremely uncommon in the car world.
And all of this was available to consumers for just around 20 thousand dollars.
Unfortunately, sacrafices are made to make the most fuel-efficient gasoline car in the world. It was only a two seater (though it is a spacious two seater) its low rolling resistance tires gave it a harsh ride (this can be solved with better tires, at the expense of a few mpg) So, the car really wasn't very practical. As the years went by, the Honda sold less and less Insights every year. The Insight was never upgraded, and so by the time the new Prius came out, it was all but forgotten.
Ultimately, the Insight sacraficed too much in the opinion of the American public. The Prius provided at least as much power as the Insight, with plenty of room and 5 passangers, while getting ~45mpg. The Insight sacraficed that in order to achieve ~55mpg. In the eyes of the public, it wasn't worth the 10mpg. :(
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Dan 12:59AM (1/21/2008)
I think I can explain the claim of 50% more power. Power refers to the rate of energy released, not the total amount of energy stored. The amount of energy stored in a lead acid cells is still the same as ever, but when combined with a capacitor, you can charge it and discharge it more aggressively without damaging the battery or wasting energy in internal resistance. That also means more efficient regenerative braking.
A lead acid battery will always be heavier than a NiMH battery of the same Ah rating. However, the weight penalty in a hybrid will be much less than a plugin hybrid or pure EV because you need much less total capacity. Also, the more efficient regen braking can compensate for lower capacity.
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Me 3:11AM (1/21/2008)
I am going to restate what I already posted
"This looks like a marking scam. Funded by the "American-based Advanced Lead-Acid Battery Consortium" They are trying to keep lead acid batteries on the market. Forget that they are horrible for the environment when not disposed of properly. Read the claims "50 per cent more power " is that peak on demand power or just instantaneous current output. 70 percent cheaper then what? A123 Lithium Ion which have only recently started being mass produced. The truth is the more I searched the less information I found. If this is such a break through a little technical data would be nice. I suspect all they did was take a lead acid battery and add a capacitor to the out put. (which would cause all of the claims they made to become true) It would not help EV vehicles only Hybrids (which I really hope are just a stop gap till we get full EV's)"
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Peekoyle 8:29AM (1/21/2008)
^ Just something to think about.
I'm an Aussie and the CSIRO is one of the most professional and well respected Science Research Organisations in the world.
In other words the CSIRO doesn't do 'scams'.
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Tim 8:56AM (1/21/2008)
Which battery you use REALLY depends on Application, Return on investment, Size and Weight.
We will ALWAYS have lead batteries, but their form will change. As an example, Firefly lead foam batteries have a much smaller form and several times the power and energy density of older plate lead acids at a fraction of the cost of more exotic designs.
Using ultracaps to extend the life and power capabilities of ANY type battery is a no-brainer. I'm not sure that incorporating them into the battery itself is such a good idea, but then again, it's APPLICATION based.
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mike 10:55AM (1/21/2008)
Just checked the whole of the US, there are NO used Honda Insights available for sale. Are these owners happy, and "laughing all the way to the bank"?
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Phil L. 1:41PM (1/21/2008)
mike -
Where are you looking? There are 21 of them on cars.com right now, several for
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Phil L. 1:42PM (1/21/2008)
Ugghhhh... The posting software strips out things it doesn't like.
My post above should have finished up with "less than $10K".
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