Toyota Developing Magnesium Battery that Could Reduce Range Anxiety
Posted By Jessica Dailey On January 14, 2011 @ 11:59 am In automotive,Detroit Auto Show,Green Transportation | 1 Comment
As we’ve seen at the Detroit Auto Show [4], electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular, but we know that many consumers are still wary of EVs [5], mainly because of range anxiety [6]. Well, we have good news for you! Range anxiety could be a problem of the past thanks to a new battery currently in development by Toyota [7]. The magnesium-sulfur battery holds twice as much energy as lithium-ion cells, meaning that electric vehicles could travel much further on a single charge.
Details about the super-battery are hazy, as it’s still in the early development stages, but the company is also looking at aluminum and calcium as potential battery materials. Jeffrey Makarewicz, the managing engineer for the new battery, told Bloomberg [8] that lithium ion has a theoretical capacity of about 2,000 kilowatt hours under ideal conditions. He added, “That’s still not enough to really make a very competitive battery that’s necessary for future plug-in, electric [5] and hybrid-electric vehicles.”
Unfortunately, we have to wait nearly a decade to see if magnesium really is the next best battery — the product won’t be in vehicles until 2020, at the earliest.
+ Toyota [9]
Via Engadget [10]
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/toyota-developing-magnesium-battery-that-could-reduce-range-anxiety/
[4] Detroit Auto Show: http://inhabitat.com/category/detroit-auto-show-2/
[5] EVs: http://inhabitat.com/tag/electric-vehicle
[6] range anxiety: http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/09/01/general-motors-wants-trademark-for-range-anxiety/
[7] Toyota: http://inhabitat.com/toyota-unveils-new-family-of-prius-vehicles-at-the-detroit-auto-show/
[8] Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-10/toyota-developing-magnesium-battery-as-lithium-alternate.html
[9] + Toyota: http://www.toyota.com/
[10] Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/14/toyota-working-on-magnesium-batteries-for-phevs-of-the-not-so-ne/
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