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Nissan ready to make 500,000 batteries a year when demand is there

You certainly can't argue with Carlos Ghosn's commitment to battery-powered vehicles. No one else in the auto industry has placed such a huge bet on plug-in vehicles. Renault has committed to four different battery-powered vehicles in the next few years, and Nissan has committed to three and possibly a fourth. Building so many EVs will require an awful lot of advanced batteries and Ghosn has been lining up the necessary financing to build battery plants in the United States and Europe in addition to Japan. Speaking in China this week, ... Read more →

REPORT: Panasonic to follow the Tesla model of laptop batteries in cars Sam Abuelsamid

While the lithium ion battery technology that everyone expects to be at the heart of the upcoming generation of electric vehicles was initially used in consumer electronics devices, only one ...

Unseen benefit: Underwriters Laboratories working on standards for electric car batteries Sebastian Blanco

While no one will mandate that the new Underwriters Laboratories 2580 standard be applied to all advanced electric vehicle batteries, the fact that there will soon be a UL listing for "large ...

GM and Toyota agree: gas, battery prices defining parameters for plug-in acceptance Sebastian Blanco

GM has not been secretive about how important gas prices in late 2010 will be on the price of the Chevy Volt. During a webchat this week, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said again that higher gas ...

Editorial: Absent analyst misundertands what Bill Ford said about batteries Sam Abuelsamid

Here at ABG, we're not fond of sniping with other sites. However, when someone call us out, we feel the need to respond. Such is the case with self-proclaimed analyst Jack Lifton. This past ...

REPORT: GM to build its own electric motors, control systems 3 months ago on Autoblog Green

Sure, General Motors has outsourced production of the individual battery cells to LG Chem, but the American automaker isn't willing to give up much control over the Volt's extended-range EV powertrain. According to a report on Automotive News (sub. req'd), GM plans to focus in on three EV ...

Obama announces battery grants: Big Three, Michigan, li-ion companies come out winners 3 months ago on Autoblog Green

At the closed and then re-openend Monaco Recreational Vehicle plant in Indiana today, President Obama will announce exactly how $2.4 billion in Recovery Act grant money will be spent on advanced battery technologies and on infrastructure for more electric vehicles. This is a bit more than the $2 ...

Can we build a better battery with lithium? 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

While lead acid batteries have energized electric cars for most of the motoring age and nickel metal hydrides (NiMH) have helped hybrids return high gas mileage numbers more recently, the future seems to securely belong to lithium batteries for both applications. With all that's riding on this ...

At Witz' End - Range Anxiety Q&A 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

There was a lot of feedback (50 comments at last count) to my column on EV range anxiety, some thoughtful and intelligent, some not. The few who accuse me of being anti-electric vehicles, which I definitely am not, were not. Neither were the two (same guys each time) touting the idiotic conspiracy ...

BYD ready to supply batteries for Europe and North America 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

Chinese manufacturer BYD has announced talks to supply electric batteries for two European and one North American carmaker. These deals would surely maximize benefits from its proprietary lithium-ion batteries technology, which are made in Shenzhen, China. These batteries are already installed ...

Plug In America suggests reducing warranty time to lower cost of Chevy Volt 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

One of the Obama Auto Task Force's findings RE the Chevy Volt was that it will be a wee bit pricey, too pricey, in fact to play a role in saving GM from itself. Plug In America (PIA), the advocacy group for vehicles with a cord, is trying to make the case that part of the problem for the Volt's ...

What are some advanced battery basics for beginners? 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

Electric cars have been with us since the very beginning of the automobile age and from that time until now, its most important component has been the battery. It stores energy chemically until it is needed to create the electricity that powers a vehicle's motor. There have been different types ...

RETECH 2009: hydrogen proponent Sandy Thomas says fuel cells beat the pants off of battery-powered cars 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

At the American Council on Renewable Energy's RETECH conference and expo last week, I was able to listen to a few presentations on renewables and transportation. It's always interesting to hear about the auto industry from people on the outside, and the RETECH presentations lived up to ...

Panasonic buying Sanyo, consolidation in the battery market? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Bloomberg is reporting today that Panasonic has decided to buy rival Japanese consumer electronics company Sanyo. While this in an of itself is not particularly important in this space, it does pose some questions in terms of hybrid and electric vehicles. Both companies make a huge array of ...

Sanyo seeking new customers for lithium ion batteries 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The world's number one rechargeable battery maker is seeking out new automotive clients in an attempt to stay on top of the heap. With its competitor, Matsushita (Panasonic), snapping at its heels with plans to triple output, Sanyo is on the hunt for new contracts from auto manufacturers. Sanyo's ...

Toyota wonders what comes after lithium? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Even before its first production vehicle ships with a lithium ion battery, Toyota is already making plans for the next wave of energy storage technology. We expect to see Toyota and Lexus products with lithium ion packs sometime around 2010, and Toyota is said to believe that the technology will ...

Toyota plans 3 battery plants for hybrid vehicles 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Nissan isn't the only Japanese auto manufacturer with big plans for batteries. Toyota will open two new battery plants in Japan and expand a third for the production of nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries. All of Toyota's current hybrid vehicles use the older nickel-based battery ...

Phoenix Motorcars to use Electrovaya batteries? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

In an interesting twist to the saga that is the development of the Phoenix Motorcars electric SUT & SUV program comes news that they are now partnering with a Canadian battery maker. In a press release from that company, Electrovaya says that they are now negotiating an arrangement with Phoenix ...

Battery breakthroughs abound 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/environment/High_Tech_Battery_breakthroughs_abound'; In an attempt to keep our readers up to date on the very latest developments in technology as it pertains to transportation and the lessening of our carbon footprints, we often burn the midnight oil and labor to ...

Ricardo announces Battery Systems Development Center in Detroit 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

There is much more to building complete battery packs for electric cars and hybrids than most people think about. Sure, cells are available - they are powering the laptop that this story is being written on. Just ask Tesla about taking a few thousand of those batteries and turning them into a unit ...

Panasonic introduces lithium ion-powered bicycle 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/environment/Panasonic_introduces_lithium_ion_powered_bicycle'; On this site Panasonic has mostly received attention for their relationship with Toyota as a supplier of batteries. In particular, we've discussed their difficulties with lithium ion batteries. While the ...

Detroit 2008: Johnson Controls shows off its lithium-ion battery technology 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Johnson Controls, Inc (JCI) isn't necessarily the first name that comes to mind when someone thinks of batteries, but odds are that the lead-acid battery under the hood of your ride comes from the company's Power Solutions group. JCI's I3 ("Ingenuity, Integration, and Interface") concept vehicle on ...

Ultra-capacitor/li-ion battery "hybrids" being developed in China 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

When we're talking about the word "hybrid" in automotive circles, it doesn't always mean a gasoline engine with a powerful battery pack tied on. For Maxwell Technologies and Tianjin Lishen Battery, hybrid describes a new sort of energy storage product that combines ultracapacitors with lithium-ion ...

Panasonic EV Energy expanding NiMH capacity by 50% 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

There is more evidence that Toyota isn't ready to give up on NiMH batteries just yet. Panasonic EV Energy, the joint venture of Toyota and Matsushita to produce batteries for hybrid vehicles is putting up a new plant next their existing facility Shizuoka Prefecture to crank up capacity by fifty ...

Utilities looking to re-use hybrid car batteries 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

One of the many topics we discussed during the dinner last week with Gary Smyth and Nick Zielinski was end-of-life for batteries. As we all know batteries don't last forever and we can't dump them in landfills. Just because a battery doesn't have enough capacity to be useful for a car, it doesn't ...

AutoblogGreen Q&A: AltairNano CEO Alan Gotcher 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

In AutoblogGreen Podcast #4, ABG talked to Dr. Alan Gotcher of Altairnano Technologies about the battery technology that makes the Phoenix SUT go. You can now read the interview transcript below. AutoblogGreen: This is Sam Abuelsamid from AutoblogGreen and I'm talking today with Dr. Alan Gotcher ...

General Motors has not yet issued battery contracts for the E-Flex program 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Several articles floating around the internets today including this one are referencing an Automotive News article published this morning on building the battery supply chain for the General Motors E-Flex program. Most of those stories are assuming from the wording of the AN article that GM has ...

Bad news from Tesla: Original range target won't be met! 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Bad_news_from_Tesla_we_won_t_meet_range_target_for_all_electric_Roadster'; In a letter sent out to their first batch of 380+ customers a few days ago Tesla Motors has some bad news. They will be coming up a little short on their original 250 mile range ...

Grupo Cegasa leads fifteen companies to improve hydrogen fuel-cells 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Battery manufacturer Grupo Cegasa has announced plans to lead a team of fifteen companies in a four-year co-operative effort to improve upon current hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Two different types of cells will be the main focus of the project; polymer membrane and solid oxide fuel cells. In ...

How about a flexible, transparent battery? 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

There is some interesting work going at Waseda University in Japan. A few months ago there was news of a genetically engineered blood protein that could split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Now researchers there have developed a flexible, transparent battery. Hiroyuki Nishide, Hiroaki Konishi and ...

Touring the General Motors advanced hybrid battery test lab 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Hybrid_car_batteries_need_a_lot_of_testing_Here_s_how_GM_does_it'; As part of the recent battery technology briefing at the General Motors Technical Center, the attendees were taken on a tour of the hybrid battery test lab. Our group was taken through by lab ...

Electric car conversion workshop teaches EV modding 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Electric vehicle (EV) advocate Jenny Isaacs has decided she can't wait for rising fuel prices to usher in a wave of hybrids and EVs, and has instead started a workshop to teach people how to convert their own vehicles. Isaacs has brought a Californian EV expert in to run a two-week course in her ...

Nanotech strikes again! University of Arizona creates new capacitor technology 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Readers who are familiar with hybrid and electric vehicle drivetrains will already know what a capacitor is, but here is a brief explanation. A battery is a chemical means of storing electricity, while a capacitor is a mechanical means of storing electricity. Both can be recharged, and both can be ...

Download the new version to upgrade your vehicle's fuel efficiency 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

In terms of efficiency, cars driven by humans are fickle. There's only ever one optimal accelerator position for the best fuel efficiency, no matter what gear you're in. This leads to the situation where the imprecise driving of humans is responsible for lowered fuel efficiency and performance. But ...

Altairnano confirms they are talking to Zap! about batteries for the Zap-X 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Last Friday there was a presentation of plug-in electric vehicles at the White House and Phoenix MotorCars was there with their AltairNano battery powered SUT. Following the presentation, Dallas Kachan of InsideGreenTech had a chance to talk to AltairNano CEO Alan Gotcher. Gotcher repeated all the ...

California's largest utility looks to the wind to power EVs 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

As discussed in URGE² theory, utilising the grid to overcome the supply intermittency of renewable energy sources is a critical step in moving forward towards a green energy future. Californian utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is looking to do just that by combining the overnight ...

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