Nissan expects to double battery energy capacity by 2015
2010 Nissan Leaf - Click above for high-res image gallery
If the ranges offered by the upcoming Nissan and Renault electric cars aren't as long as you'd like, you'll be pleased to learn they should double by 2015. Nissan is just about done developing an energy storage cell that has twice the capacity of their current batteries. Focusing their research efforts on the positive electrode, they have added cobalt and nickel to the manganese they already use which yields them a (breathe) lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide cathode battery or, if you like, NMC for short. This would only be marginally good news if the cost of the new power pack also doubled but we're assured that this is not the case. The manufacturing process is quite similar and the expensive cobalt is used quite sparingly so the outlay should be close to that of their current chemistry. This all fits in with Nissan's electric vehicle introduction strategy.
Nissan isn't the only company developing NMC either. Other battery-makers working with the same materials are said to include Panasonic, Sanyo, Hitachi, GS Yuasa, Samsung, EnerDel, Kokam, Evonik/Litarion, Enax, and Imara. With such a dramatic increase only a few short years away, we can't help but wonder how this may effect attitudes towards battery leasing models in the near term. Relieve our curiosity with your comments after the break.
Gallery: 2010 Nissan LEAF
Gallery: Renault Fluence ZE concept
[Source: Green Car Congress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
neptronix 11:57AM (11/30/2009)
guys...
Please fire whoever photoshopped that. Horrible.
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Domenick Yoney 12:30PM (11/30/2009)
Sorry about that, it's definitely not my best work. Perhaps I should take a class. Or two.
neptronix 12:37PM (11/30/2009)
Haha.. see these are the comments we make when we assume nobody's reading/caring.
Well, don't overextend ( ha ha, get it? i made a pun ) yourself in the photoshop department until then, buddy :)
EVsuperhero 1:38AM (12/01/2009)
This gives me an idea. Start a streched leaf service to compete against streched limos.
Rick 12:43PM (12/01/2009)
photoshop fail at an embarrassing degree. I can't even read the article now.
Tohe 12:21PM (11/30/2009)
I greatly enjoy how Nissan is light years ahead of everybody else in the auto industry. Way to go Nissan.
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nrb 1:58PM (11/30/2009)
Huh?
They put an electric motor and some batteries in a car. It's been done before (a hundred years ago).
They're anticipating future batteries will be better.
Good for them, but I don't see anything that makes them light years ahead of the rest of the industry.
Tohe 2:53PM (11/30/2009)
Well you are missing the bigger picture. When the LEAF is released next year, it will be the first mass produced BEV, and that will place them in a position to:
Gain the most experience.
Have the most matured BEV production technology.
License said technology to other automakers.
Attain the trust of consumers
As you can see, akin Toyota is of hybrids today, Nissan-Renault will be bedrock of BEVs.
Boyprodigy1 12:32PM (12/01/2009)
And to further his point Nissan is the first company to progress in this wonderful thing called evolution. See Nissan has evolved to have BALLS and a BACKBONE, something that none of the other auto makers seem to even know about.
drivethruecp 12:56PM (11/30/2009)
What a horrendous photoshop job!! Why bother!?
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Tony Belding 12:34PM (11/30/2009)
Twice the capacity of their current batteries. . . Somebody remind me, what kind of batteries are they using now?
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Zeph 1:00PM (11/30/2009)
They are using Li-Ion with around 100 mile range, iirc.
Remember though that they are also wanting to lease the battery systems, make them proprietary, so they're not doing anyone any favors. If the free market can survive there will be even greater improvements of battery packs from third parties, without the ridiculous leasing scam.
Domenick Yoney 2:12PM (11/30/2009)
They are now using lithium-based cell with a manganese spinel anode.
http://green.autoblog.com/2008/02/16/nissan-has-been-field-testing-lithium-ion-hybrid-batteries-for-3/
Joeviocoe 5:39PM (11/30/2009)
@Zeph
The batteries in an EV would be proprietary regardless of whether they are leased or sold to the buyer/driver.
It will be A VERY LONG TIME before BEV batteries are non-proprietary and 3rd party manufacturers can start selling them.
Brandon 1:12PM (11/30/2009)
Cool now these batteries are only 20X less energy dense than biodiesel! Where do I sign up!?
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NeilBlanchard 3:36PM (11/30/2009)
Hi Brandon,
Yeah, diesel packs the energy from almost 100 TONS of ancient biological material from 100's of millions of years ago in each gallon -- great. It's renewable if you are willing to wait another couple o' hundred million years to replenish it.
Neil
Joeviocoe 5:40PM (11/30/2009)
Comparing apples to suspension bridges again?
Yanquetino 1:30PM (11/30/2009)
This would be good news, indeed. Hope Nissan can do it! And this is just the beginning. Imagine what will emerge by 2020 and beyond.
On the topic of leasing, as I have tried to tell Nissan in their Leaf "chats," in our U.S. culture we prefer to possess our possessions --even if it doesn't make practical or economic sense. We are pretty obsessive about the adjective "mine."
Yes, Nissan wants to make it easier to maintain, repair, replace, and upgrade the batteries by retaining ownership of them, but in reality... they can still accomplish the same thing with warranties and trade-ins.
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Lad 1:42PM (11/30/2009)
Lets hope there is an upgrade path for the first generation cars as the batteries are improve and you are not stuck with a 100 mile range on the older models.
Joeviocoe 5:46PM (11/30/2009)
@Yanquetino
I am inclined to agree. However, I would argue that commercialism has taken a nasty turn in America some decades ago.
Americans only "think" they own something. But most do not. They "buy" a car rather than lease it. But the bank still owns it for an average of 5 more years.
They "buy" a house. But they pay the mortgage to the bank. The bank owns it for 10, 20 or even 30 years or more.
Unless you pay cash for everything (less than 15% of Americans), then you aren't owning. Debt is slavery. And our economic woes today are a sign of that.