Lockheed Martin Signs Agreement with EEStor

Mostly, we talk about the Volt here, but relevant and related topics are often worth discussing.
We have previously discussed a secretive Texas company called EEStor, who are reported to be working on a new type of ultracapacitor that can hold 10x the energy in 1/10th the weight of typical batteries, at a fraction of the [...]

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GM-Volt.com: Interview with Dr. Cui, Inventor of Silicon Nanowire Lithium-ion Battery Breakthrough

Dr. Yi Cui
Many of you have heard about the new breakthrough in lithium-ion battery storage. I had an interview with the scientist who discovered it, and hopes to bring it to market, Dr. Yi Cui, Assistant Professor of Material Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

Can you tell us what you have discovered?
The idea is to [...]

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Lithium-ion Battery Storage Capacity Research Breakthrough

Normally we discuss news and facts related to production of the Chevy Volt. But this technological breakthrough seems so important I thought it deserves mention here.
As we know, the Volt will be powered by lithium-ion batteries either from A123 systems or LG Chem.
In these and most li-ion batteries, energy is stored in an anode [...]

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How Did GM determine that 78% of Commuters Drive Less Than 40 miles per day?

A central factor in the Chevy Volt’s engineering design is that it can be driven for up to 40 miles on electric power only. A lot of electric car enthusiasts and manufacturers have come up with varying ranges for their vehicles. An example of this is the fact that the Tesla Roadster is designed to [...]

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Bill H.R. 3776 in Support of Funding Advanced Battery Research Has Passed the House of Representatives

We have previously reported on a bill that was introduced to House of Representatives on 10/16/07, called the Energy Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007. The bill among other things included $150 million over 5 years for demonstration of vehicle energy storage systems, i.e advanced lithium-ion batteries for plug-in cars (prior post).
The bill was [...]

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Audio Interview: Donald Hillebrand, Director of Center For Transportation Research, Argonne National Lab, Part I

Dr. Donald Hillebrand is the director for transportation research at the Argonne National Lab, a pivotal government organization involved in testing and deployment of plug-in cars. He is also a very intelligent and highly insightful man. We had an extensive and interesting discussion which can be heard in the player below the post. [...]

 

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USABC Battery Contractor Comparison

One of our regular GM-Volt.com readers Alex S. has done an academic comparison of the 5 battery companies awarded research grants by the US Advanced Battery Consortium (see previous post).
Alex was able to derive estimates of what each of the battery makers lithium-ion cells attributes may be.  This is not verified but an interesting starting [...]

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New Bill Requesting Funds to Support Plug-in EV Research Has Been Introduced to Congress

On October 9th, congressman Bart Gordon introduced bill HR3776 to Congress.
This bill is the Energy Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007. As we’ve discussed previously Denise Gray, battery czar of GM gave testimony to Mr. Gordon’s science committee in support of this research funding (previous post). We also were able to get a [...]

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The Garage Doors Have Opened on Project Driveway

We have been hearing for a while about GM’s project driveway (see post). This refers to their large-scale experiment in which 100 people will get to use Fuel Cell Equinoxes for several months of real world driving.
Originally slated to begin in the fall, the official word is that it has begun.
The first individuals and [...]

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GM-Volt EXCLUSIVE!: New Interview with Ric Fulop, Co-Founder of A123 Systems on Volt Batteries

Ric Fulop, Co-founder A123 Systems
I had the chance to speak with Ric Fulop, co-founder and marketing director of A123 Systems in Boston as the Volt was visiting there. You can hear the whole interview below the post, download it, or find it on iTunes podcasts.
I tried to find out of GM had their Volt pack [...]

 

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New Semiconductor Splits Hydrogen From Water Using Solar Energy

from Angewandte Chemie (International ed.) [1433-7851] Ritterskamp yr:2007 vol:46 iss:41 pg:7770 -7774

This isn’t exactly brand new, but I think very important.
A researcher at the Max Planck institute named Martin Demuth an colleagues have developed a semiconducting material called titanium disilicide (TiSi2). When this material is suspended in water and exposed to sunlight, it splits water [...]

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Congressman Bart Gordon’s Response to the U.S.-Japan Disparity in Lithium-ion Battery Funding

Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN)
Bart Gordon (D-TN) is the Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology. This is the same committee that recently heard testimony from lithium-ion battery experts, including Denise Gray from GM (see post).
Mr. Gordon is currently drafting a bill which he plans to introduce to the house at a yet unspecified [...]

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