Li Ion Battery

by Allen
(CA)

Is there a li ion battery available anywhere for sale that can power an electric car?


Hi, Allen -
After all that exploding laptop footage on the evening news, you still want to strap a thousand or so of these batteries to your butt and play kick the can with the Sequoias and Xterras out there on the freeway?

Yeah, yeah, me too. I understand; )

There's a good lithium battery out there for you and me, Allen, but for your EV, it's not Li ion. Not yet, anyway - the average li ion battery is too excitable; ) No worries, there are a few other lithium batteries out there that will do the job more safely and with just a little less energy density...and best of all, a bit more cheaply.

Two (not quite) li ion battery options come to mind: One is Lithium Iron Phosphate, or LiFePO4, and it's a little cheaper than li ion, a lot safer, lasts a good number of cycles, and is available right now. Ampmobile Conversions, an EV conversion shop in South Carolina, is now beginning to use these in their conversions.

The other option is Lithium polymer, or LiPo. They are also safer and cheaper than li ion, and also flexible enough in their design (and their casing, because the polymer makes up much of the structure of the battery) that they can be made credit-card thin or whatever shape you need to fit into your car - a real advantage! Both Kokam in Korea and ABT in China make LiPo batteries.

I suspect LiFePO4 will be the lithium battery of choice for EVs for the next 5-10 years. ZEVA in Australia has produced an excellent article comparing several of these batteries.

Regards,
Lynne