rethinking the lithium-ion battery revolution over cost, safety

Troy, Michigan (Reuters)-
For nearly two years, a team of former Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Prius engineers has been working on the next big thing about electric vehicles: 154-year-old lead-acid battery.
Their goal is to build a battery that is strong enough to power a wider range of vehicles, which they believe is the current cutting
Edge Technologylithium ion -
Especially given the recent security scare, it can\'t be done cheaply.
The focus of the energy power system is on a technology that is older than the car itself, which illustrates the difficulty of lithium --ion batteries.
While it is widely used from laptops to electric cars and satellites, some are high
Profile events involving smoke and fire alerted people to the risks and gave them an image problem.
Boeing\'s two batteries are overheating (BA. N)high-
The tech 787 Dreamliner, which prompted regulators to modify the aircraft, highlighted the concern and forced aircraft manufacturers to redesign their battery systems.
Battery experts will gather in Washington, DC on Thursday. C.
, To discuss the technology in a forum organized by the National Transportation Safety Committee, which is leading an investigation into one of the 787 incidents.
Experts will definitely point out dangerous signals.
In fact, more and more engineers now say lithium
The ion battery revolution stalled due to high cost, complex technology and safety issues.
\"Smart people have been working on this for 10 years and no one is close to a new battery,\" Lithium-
Ion battery experts and retired American physicistsS. -
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Many experts now believe it will take at least a decade for lithium.
Ion technology is ready to be widely used in transportation.
Other companies including Toyota Motor (7203. T)
Believe that the solution is more than lithium. ion.
Interviewed more than 20 battery executives, experts and researchers, including the founder of a safe aircraft that makes Boeing battery chargers, who revealed an industry in which some people are concerned about the use of lithium
Instead, they want to enhance the previous technology or make a leap forward.
Expectations are too high, too fast, these people say.
It is expected that the \"clean technology\" battery will be reduced in size and weight at the speed of the microchip revolution.
This hasn\'t happened yet, Schlachter says it won\'t happen soon.
\"Unless we are very lucky, we will not see different chemical reactions for decades.
\"Just as recent technological developments have enabled cars to increase mileage using traditional engines, leading the way
The goal of acid cell research is to increase power in smaller packages. BEYOND LITHIUM-ION Lithium-
Ion supporters including Boeing and Tesla Motors (TSLA. O)
General Motors Corporation (GM. N)
Manufacturers of Volt say they can make the battery safe and the problem with new technologies is predictable.
GM has overcome early problems, and Volt caught fire in tests conducted in the United States. S.
For example, the National Highway Transport safety administration, after all, has managed to tame gasoline and jet fuel by car and aircraft engineers.
\"GM is committed to lithium
Ion technology for our vehicle electrified solutions\"S.
The automaker said in a statement that it saw \"economic improvement\" in technology \".
Boeing says it has many years of experience in the technology and is confident in its safety and reliability.
\"Any situation we have learned from the ongoing investigation has not changed the decision to use lithium --
The company said in a statement.
Battery expert Tom Gage says his company EV Grid is working on ways to manage the charging of electric vehicles
Ion may be a bit more \"grumpy\" than other technologies, but it is the best industry at the moment and he believes it will improve.
\"This is just a technical challenge,\" he said . \"
But other companies are looking beyond technology.
Toyota, for example, has commissioned a team of battery engineers to explore a range of lithium alternativesion.
\"We don\'t think lithium
\"Ion batteries will help us to reach the point where we have a significant increase in sales, really called the mass market,\" said Toyota spokesman John Hansen . \".
\"We\'re going to have a bigger breakthrough that could go into other areas of battery chemistry.
\"Subhash Dhar, who founded the energy power system, is an advanced leader
Acid Battery said it had never achieved a promised lithium-ion improvement.
Help develop Dhar for nickel-
Toyota Prius\'s metal hydrogen battery describes his own \"disappointment\" with lithium\"
Complexity and cost of ions.
\"Before the technology is fully optimized, before the market is ready, we just put billions of dollars into building these manufacturing plants,\" Dhar said . \".
\"They are all idle now.
February 2010, United StatesS.
The government has invested more than $0. 15 billion to help build a lithium-
Ion battery factory owned by a unit of South Korea\'s LG Group (051910. KS), LG Chem Ltd.
The factory was supposed to make enough batteries for 60,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2013.
But demand never came true. A U. S.
A us Department of Energy report describes factories in the Netherlands and Michigan as a place where workers play board games, watch movies or volunteer at local animal shelters.
The Volt battery provides a reason for reviewers and fans.
After the initial problem, it did not have any events.
But to ensure safety, the battery has more parts than the sum of other parts of the car, including 600 seals and cooling parts.
\"This is 600 seals and they have to stay all their lives or you will suffer a catastrophic failure,\" Josh Payne said . \", He worked on the first Volt battery and is now a senior engineering manager in Troy, Michigan
Power system based on energy.
GM has repeatedly said that the Volt battery is safe. Lithium-
Ion batteries have been used to drive electronics such as cameras, mobile phones and laptops since 1992, and in 2002 the Economist magazine called them \"Infantry of the digital revolution \".
Batteries are also flammable.
Some early laptops burned badly, but the consumer electronics industry largely solved the problem.
This has led to the expectation that larger batteries will also be tamed.
Within the aviation industry, however, experts are cautious.
\"These things will turn into torch burning.
I call it \"call.
\"This is not an explosion in itself,\" said aviation consultant Richard Luxor . \".
\"I \'ve listened four times, so I know what I\'m talking about.
Lukso founded security aplane, a company that makes battery chargers for 787.
He went to find a lithium.
Ion battery start-up, but failed to build a lithium-after spending $6 million-
Ion batteries are safe enough for aircraft.
Luxor was shocked at how difficult it was to track what happened inside the battery.
The new microchip did the job, but he didn\'t do it when he shut down the company a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Lukso faces the same problem as Boeing
Once a big lithium is on fire-
The ion battery, because it produces its own oxygen and has its own fuel, is hard to roll out.
The cost and weight of safeguards to prevent heat transmission between batteries and curb fires offset lithium-
Advantages of Ion
Boeing\'s rival Airbus gave up lithium.
The ion Battery of the next generation A350 has made the technology \"mature \".
\"They are definitely strong and they are more advanced,\" said Subhas Chalasani, an engineer who consulted Boeing with 787 batteries and worked in GM.
\"But you have to look after them.
\"We need to make some kind of breakthrough at all levels so that we can make the technology more robust and secure,\" added Chalasani . \"
Charasani is not working on lithium.
Ion breakthrough.
He works at East Penn Manufacturing and is responsible for advanced leading edgeacid batteries. (
Peter Henderson in San Francisco, sasaito in Tokyo and James Topham added;
Edited by Peter Henderson, Alvin Scott, Martin Howell and Tim Dobbin)