Tesla Developing 500-mile Graphene Battery?

Elon Musk has bet his fortune on the future electric cars, and he knows that Tesla has to stay on the forefront of battery technology. One of the most promises advancements in battery tech is graphene-based anodes, which have been proven to more than quadruple lithium-ion battery density.

A report from China’s Xinhua news agency claims that Tesla is working on a new graphene battery that could almost double the range of the Model S to some 500 miles. This follows up on Musk’s assertion that Tesla could offer a 500-mile battery “soon”, but only if it makes financial sense.

Graphene could be what makes long-range EVs finally viable, though the technology has been in the works for some time now. As well as increasing energy density, graphene also allows for faster charging of batteries, opening the ion-highway to faster fill-ups. Whichever company can come up with a long-range, fast-charging, and (most importantly) fiscally viable electric car battery will be at a huge advantage going forward. Tesla needs to be that company if the $5 billion battery Gigafactory is going to be the game changer Musk thinks it will be.

A 500-mile Tesla Model S would all but eliminate the effects of range anxiety and could give Tesla the means to dominate the growing electric car market. That would be more driving range than even most conventional cars offer, though the price would likely be in the six-digits…at least at first. The average driver rarely exceeds 100 miles of total driving per day, and 200 miles per charge seems to be the magic number the Tesla Model III is aiming for. Then again, Musk seems confident that there hasn’t been a legitimate battery advancement yet, and that when it does comes, Tesla will know about it first.

Could a graphene-anode battery be the technology that puts Tesla at its place on top of the EV market? Or is there another technology (like aluminum-air batteries) that Tesla is trying to develop?

Source: Gas2

South Korean engineers find graphene electrodes can recharge in 16 seconds

Yes, one day, you too may be able to fully recharge your plug-in vehicle's battery in the amount of time it takes to decelerate down one of those runaway truck ramps. Assuming your brakes actually work, of course.

Engineers at South Korea's Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology are researching the concept ofgraphene supercapacitors and how they can be applied to plug-in vehicle technology, Technology Reviewsays. A simplified explanation is that the engineers have created an extremely porous version of graphene, turned it into a powder (which makes its surface area larger) and packed the powder into a cell.

The fun part is that the new graphene electrode was tested to provide almost as much charge as a fully recharged lithium-ion battery, with the amazing benefit of only needing about 16 seconds to recharge, raising interesting possibilities for applying the technology to a regenerative braking system. And the electrode was tested 10,000 times and didn't suffer capacity reduction. Cornell University published a version of the studyhere.

The idea of using graphene, a crystalline form of carbon, for automotive technology, is continuously being researched. Earlier this year, researchers from South Korea, Case Western University and University of North Texas said they discovered that a graphene-coated cathode may generate a greater battery current than a cathode covered with the more expensive but more traditional platinum. And in 2011, University of Technology Sydney researchers created a type of graphene "paper" that is stronger, lighter and less dense than steel. Such widespread use would enable automakers to cut vehicle weight and boost fuel efficiency as a result.

News Source: Technology Review

Image Credit: Flickr

Electric Car Battery Research: Graphene Foam For Faster Recharging?

Graphene is described as a "wonder material" within the scientific community, winning the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. It's incredibly light, incredibly strong and very simple. Made up from sheets of carbon only a single atom thick, it's the material's potential use in batteries that has us excited.

Graphene foam, says arstechnica, is the latest technology to be suggested for battery technology.

To create it, graphene is "grown" on the surface of a metal foam, a three-dimensional mesh of metal filaments. When the metal is processed away, you're left with graphene foam. The resulting material is both flexible--just like regular graphene--light, and strong.

It also has great electrical conductivity characteristics, as well as a large surface area for charge carriers to exhange electrons--both desirable features for a battery electrode. And used in batteries, graphene foam could combine the desirable characteristics of both regular batteries, and faster charging and discharging found in capacitors--a complete discharge in as little as 20 seconds, for example.

Similarly, tests using a lithium-iron phosphate and graphene foam cathode resulted in reliable full charging in under 15 minutes--despite similar energy density to current lithium-ion batteries.

As with many other battery development technologies, it's not yet up to a standard where it could be used full-scale in electric cars. Additionally, graphene foam might be simple in composition, but it's time-consuming and expensive to produce.

Ultimately, the viability of graphene foam batteries relies on those issues being cured. Until they are, it's unlikely to be the future of battery technology.

Source: Green Car Reports

Look for Lighter EV Batteries Thanks to New Material

Graphene Carbon Lattice

Man-made carbon dioxide might be something we're trying to reduce, but on its own, carbon is an abundant and rather useful element. It's also been central to two of the most important scientific materials discoveries of recent years--graphene, and carbon nanotubes. The latter involves rolling the former--a one atom thick sheet of carbon atoms--into a cylinder, creating incredibly small but incredibly strong strands of carbon.


A new technology takes those tubes and weaves them into a new, incredibly strong and light substance, known as Aerographite. Developed at Kiel University in Germany, it's now being described as the lightest material ever created, beating the previous nickel nanotubes. According to The Register, Aerographite is 75 times lighter than the same quantity of a typically light material like styrofoam.

What makes it so light? Partly, the relationship between its size and strength--put simply, you don't need much of the material to do the job you're asking of it. It beats the nickel nanotubes as carbon has a lower mass than nickel, and the tubes themselves can be porous, without losing strength.


Why should I care?

Cutting to the chase, Aerographite is yet another material that could see realistic use in batteries of the future.

Just as graphene has already been considered for batteries, Aerographite is stable and conductive, making it entirely suitable for use in the electrodes found in batteries. The high conductivity--and indeed high resilience--means batteries could be made considerably smaller and lighter without sacrificing performance.

What that means is that the large, heavy, solid objects required to power every electric car can be packaged much more tightly and contribute less to curb weight.

And that, as we've discussed in the past, means better performance, better handling and of course, better range.

If you're keeping track of future battery technologies, that's another one you can add to the list...



Source: Green Car Reports