Electric charging and battery strategy

Major developments are in hand with regard to providing charging solutions for electric vehicles.
February 29, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Major developments are in hand with regard to providing charging solutions for electric vehicles. This has been seen as a barrier to the introduction of electric vehicles on a widespread basis but various manufacturers are now developing systems to deal with the issue.

Siemens and 1233 BMW are working on an easy-to-use fast charging plug for electric cars. This system will allow sufficient charging for a 100km range in less than 30 minutes.

Meanwhile 2454 Nissan/2453 Renault have decided, together with major utilities and charging infrastructure suppliers, to develop and install thousands of fast charging stations in Europe by 2012.

Meanwhile other developments for electric vehicles focus on making batteries more affordable as well as efficient. The latest developments include batteries using organic polymer instead of cobalt and battery packs with improved thermal management that takes advantage of copper's heat conductive characteristics.

Researchers from 3434 Osaka University have developed a new lithium-ion battery using a cathode conductive organic polymer. Using an organic polymer instead of cobalt could have great benefits for the automotive sector, as cobalt is a costly raw material with limited production in just five countries. The polymer consists of molecules derived from an organic open-shell molecule. This technology could prove successful in the automotive sector as it offers high discharge capacity of more than 300Ah/kg compared to existing lithium ion batteries, up to twice the electricity storage and an increased performance cycle.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Lithium ion battery prices will fall by over one third by 2017, helping drive EV adoption
    March 19, 2012
    According to a recent report from Pike Research, as manufacturing efficiencies improve and access to lithium expands, the installed cost of Li-ion batteries will fall by more than one-third by the end of 2017.
    Read More
  • European OEMs to develop tech ref for EV charging infrastructure
    May 4, 2012
    The Renault Nissan Alliance, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Mitsubishi Motors have decided to develop and promote the technical reference for compliance of public recharging equipment for electric vehicles in Europe, based on the existing conformity brand 'EV Ready', originally launched by Renault and Schneider Electric.EV Rready aims at guaranteeing interoperability between the charging infrastructure and electric and rechargeable hybrid vehicles across Europe by means of a uniform scheme which is intended to cov
    Read More
  • A variety of measures will increase demand for electric vehicles
    April 2, 2013
    A wide array of measures is being used around the world to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles. Customers are still proving reluctant in many markets to buy electric vehicles, with range concerns and purchase costs amongst the key. Nissan reports that sales of its sophisticated Leaf model (developed jointly with its partner Renault) have been sluggish in Europe, despite glowing reviews in various motoring magazines. In the UK one leading thinktank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), h
    Read More
  • Finnish research body highlights hydrogen as future fuel
    May 7, 2013
    The Finnish VTT research body believes that hydrogen offers considerable potential as a future fuel, according to its latest study. The Finnish hydrogen roadmap has been compiled by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and partly funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes). According to VTT’s study, hydrogen fuelled vehicles will be as important as electric/battery types in minimising traffic pollution. The study says that transport applications for hydrogen are now close
    Read More

Highlighted Content