Batteries and energy storage

Instead of filling up with gasoline, electric cars with a new design may one day refuel their batteries with "Cambridge crude."

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today published details on a battery design that reinvents the operation of traditional lithium ion batteries by using flowable, rather than solid, materials. In a paper published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials, they said the approach has the potential to boost battery storage capacity many times today's levels while being inexpensive to manufacture for both electric vehicles and grid storage.

The technology developed in the lab has been licensed to 24M, … Read more

Oregon is planning to install Level 3 DC fast-charging stations along a portion of Interstate 5, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced today.

AeroVironment was chosen to be the supplier for the electric-vehicle charging stations which will be sprinkled throughout a 150-mile stretch of highway.

Interstate 5 is the main interstate highway that runs north and south through the western U.S. The electric-vehicle charging stations will be placed starting at the California-Oregon state line and up to Oregon's Willamette Valley.

The 480-volt Level 3 chargers are CHAdeMO (Charge de Move) compliant, a standard that is compatible with the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and Subaru R1e. It's capable of fully charging an electric-vehicle battery in about 30 minutes, according to AeroVironment.

The exact locations for the stations have not yet been chosen.

AeroVironment has also been tasked with researching the best spots in conjunction with local utilities, based on an analysis of things like area traffic patterns and vehicle range. The stations should be in place and available to drivers by the end of this fall, according to the company.… Read more

Beacon Power later this month expects to complete installation of a flywheel energy storage system on the grid, which the company says is the largest in the world.

The company said today it plans to host a ceremony for the 20-megawatt energy storage system in Stephentown, N.Y., where the flywheels supply short bursts of power to maintain a steady frequency over the grid. The storage system takes the place of natural gas plants, which grid operators ramp up and down to create an even match between electricity supply and demand.

The expected completion of the plant is a milestone … Read more

Primus Power has raised enough money from venture investors to build a commercial-size flow battery to store energy on the power grid, the start-up said today.

The company received $11 million from I2BF Global Ventures and DBL Investors, which was spun out of a JPMorgan fund to pursue "double bottom line" investments that earn money and address social and environmental issues. Existing investors Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital also invested in this round.

Primus Power has developed a flow battery to provide backup power for the power grid or store solar or wind … Read more

At a Paris event on Wednesday, GE announced a new gas-fuelled power plant it says offers more flexibility and efficiency than many other options currently available.

The FlexEfficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant is rated at 510 megawatts, has a base-load efficiency of more than 60 percent, and, when fully operational, can provide enough energy to power more than 600,000 European homes, according to GE. The plant is built to incorporate fluctuating power sources like wind and solar, as well as a main source of natural gas, the company said.

"The FlexEfficiency 50 plant is engineered for flexible operation by integrating a next-generation 9FB gas turbine that operates at 50Hz, which is the power frequency that is most used in countries around the world; a 109D-14 steam turbine, which runs on the waste heat produced by the gas turbine; GE's advanced W28 generator; a Mark VIe integrated control system that links all of the technologies; and a heat recovery steam generator," GE said in a statement.

GE says the plant also conforms to the EU's strict plant emissions standards for NOx and CO2.

The plant represents $500 million in research and development and came out of GE's Ecomagination program to develop clean-energy projects. GE announced in June 2010 that it planned to invest $10 billion over five years in green-focused research and development.… Read more

Start-up Leyden Energy on Monday is expected to announce a distribution deal for laptop battery cells that improve the life of typical lithium ion batteries.

The Fremont, Calif.-based company will supply cells for replacement batteries to Canadian distributor Dr. Battery, said CEO Aakar Patel last week. The batteries will have a three-year warranty and maintain 80 percent of their capacity after three years, he said.

The 4-year old, venture capital-backed company has not come up with a new type of lithium ion chemistry, but has commercialized an electrolyte technology which Leyden Energy licensed from DuPont, Patel said.

"With … Read more

Brammo will offer its electric motorcycles with a six-speed transmission beginning in 2012, the company announced today.

The bikes will be unveiled this Friday in Las Vegas shortly before competing in the MiniMotoSX race.

Motorcycle manufacturer Brammo could make a big impact on the motorcycle world with this change.

While electric motorcycles have been around for some time, and even had their own race on the Isle of Man in June 2009, up until now they've mainly been seen as bikes for early adopters interested in green tech, or those who might otherwise consider a moped.

Electric motorcycles are relatively quiet, have a limited range, and arguably offer limited speed and performance when compared to comparable racing bikes with internal combustion engines. They're also fighting an image problem in a market famous for exuding a longstanding sexy, powerful, and adventurous appeal.

"Electric motorcycle design has always been a bit of a balancing act in direct drive systems where great acceleration performance comes at the expense of low top-end speed," Brian Wismann, director of product development at Brammo, said in a statement.… Read more

Charging your hybrid or electric car may someday become as simple as pulling into the driveway.

Toyota Motor has invested in and has signed an agreement with WiTricity to collaborate on a wireless automotive charger that doesn't need any point of contact to charge a car's battery, Toyota said yesterday.

WiTricity has developed technology that could eventually enable a plug-in electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle to be charged by simply parking the vehicle in the vicinity of a car charger embedded with a special device.

The Mass.-based company has already been developing the technology for consumer electronics … Read more

Two of the world's leading technology standardization groups have signed an agreement to partner on vehicle-to-smart-grid standards.

The memorandum of understanding has been signed by the IEEE-SA (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association) and SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers). It is essentially a first step to both organizations agreeing on future standards related to smart grids and vehicle electrification, including vehicle-to-grid communications, the organizations said today.

The immediate effect is that the two groups will share draft standards on any technology relating to smart grids and "vehicle electrification," with the opportunity for each to … Read more