Batteries and energy storage

Google and more than 80 other companies are collaborating with the Department of Energy to make it simple for drivers of electric vehicles to find parts and charging sites.

Via a partnership called the GeoEVSE Forum, the organizations are pooling their data to build a definitive database of all available EV charging stations in the U.S. regardless of the manufacturer or network, the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory said yesterday.

The GPS and mapping system database will also include all available electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) stations.

While the data will be organized using Google mapping tools, it … Read more

Ultracapacitor maker Ioxus today said it has raised $21 million from a handful of large industrial companies, a vote of confidence in this relatively young energy-storage technology.

The lead investor was Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture of General Electric, utility NRG Energy, and fuel company ConocoPhillips. Another investment group involved was Aster Capital, which represents transportation and power companies Alstom, Schneider Electric, and Rhodia.

The series B round will be used for product development, for sales, and to ramp up the company's manufacturing facility in Oneonta, N.Y., Ioxus CEO Mark McGough said today. These "strategic partner&… Read more

When a lithium ion battery reaches the point at which it can no longer be used in an electric car, it still has the potential to be used in other applications. But exactly what are the best uses for them?

The U.S. government is backing a comprehensive study to determine just that, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced Tuesday.

"To date, no one has comprehensively studied the feasibility, durability, and value of Li-ion batteries for second-use applications," NREL said in a statement.

The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) will lead the research project which will … Read more

Philadelphia's revitalization project of its Navy Yard and surrounding waterfront property will also include solar storage, according to International Battery.

The Allentown, Penn.-based battery manufacturer says its large format lithium ion energy storage system (ESS) will be used on a 2,700 square-foot building as part of the Philadelphia Energy Innovation Hub.

"The Energy Innovation Hub will include a live demonstration of a microgrid with a 2,700 square foot net-zero energy home. International Battery will provide Sunverge with an 8.2 kilowatt-hour Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack for use in the residential SIS [Solar Integration System],&… Read more

Better Place announced yesterday details of its plan to open a series of electric-vehicle charging stations in Israel.

The company offers EV charging stations that, through a subscription service, give electric-vehicle owners the option of a quick battery swap instead of plugging in and waiting for their car's battery to charge over time. It takes only a minute to make the swap. The depleted batteries are then recharged and used in other cars, according to Better Place.

The service may be seen by some as a substantial convenience considering it takes 15 to 30 minutes to recharge an EV … Read more

SustainX announced today it's received $14.4 million in funding from GE subsidiary GE Energy Financial Services, Cadent Energy Partners, Polaris Ventures, and Rockport Capital.

The New Hampshire-based company is a start-up that grew out of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in 2007, and has been developing a compressed-air energy storage unit intended for integration with smart grids.

Simply put, its innovative storage unit uses compressed air to store, then generate electricity. But unlike other compressed-air storage units, which use a compressor to store air underground, SustainX stores the air in a standard tank located above … Read more

There are many research efforts to radically improve energy storage for both vehicles and the grid, but the business models for bringing that technology online are also still maturing.

AES Energy Storage is one of the few companies that has developed a business to sell grid storage services to utilities, a model where the utility doesn't need to invest in the storage hardware itself. The rough analogy in the computing world is providing a computing service, such as server processing power, for a fee, rather than owning and operating servers themselves.

The company, which owns and operates many types … Read more

Owners of electric cars who are struggling to find a place to charge their vehicles can now use an iPhone app to get pointed in the right direction.

Developed by Xatori, the free PlugShare app lets iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users search for nearby plugs, outlets, and charging stations. And by tapping into a bit of crowdsourcing, PlugShare also can bring together people who don't mind sharing their own outlets with their fellow electric-vehicle owners.

You can easily browse a map of the U.S. to find a comprehensive list of charging stations or type in an address … Read more

Better Place, which offers battery service for electric vehicles, opened today its first European retail station in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Better Place stations offer battery swaps for electric vehicles as an alternative to waiting to recharge the batteries. Commercial stations are already running in Israel and Japan. Until now, though, Better Place had only been testing pilot stations in the U.S. and Europe.

Most of the stations offer fast-charging plug-in spots for EVs, as well as battery swaps for subscribing members. The battery swap is a convenience for drivers because it takes only a minute to make the switch, according … Read more