Back in February, Envia Systems made an announcement regarding tests of its electric vehicle battery technology, and said it had achieved an energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/g) with battery technology for electric vehicles. Last week, General Motors, which backs Envia, reinforced during an employee conference that Envia’s solution could power an electric car for 100 or even 200 miles on a single charge and it could become reality within the next two to four years.
According to an AP report, the company thinks chances are high that the technology will hit the market and that it will be a “game changer”.
The rechargeable lithium-ion cell is expected to reduce the cost of a battery pack by 50 per cent. Testing was performed by the Electromechanical Power Systems Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Crane (IN) under the sponsorship of ARPA-E. The tests at various cycling rates confirmed Envia’s cell’s energy density between 378-418/Wh/kg for rates between C/3 to C/10 for a 45 Amp-hour (C/3) cell – more details of the test results can be found here.
As we have written before, improving the range of electric car batteries is one of the main hurdles to be overcome before electric vehicles become mainstream. This new development sounds very exciting indeed and we’ll keep an eye on it.
Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.
