EcoFactor: A plug-in eco-friendly car.
General Motors is expected to unveil their newest hybrid Chevy Volt sometime soon. The four door tavern with a hatchback is set for US release at the end of 2010. The car will be able to run 40 miles on lithium-ion batteries and get a range of 400 miles from an internal combustion engine that charges the battery. Its styling is quite derivative, but the car’s engineering is what sets it apart. The Volt is a hybrid; employing both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, which makes it stand out in comparison to any other currently available hybrid.
Volt has no mechanical connection between its gas engine and its wheels. It uses a gasoline or diesel engine solely to drive a generator, which in turn provides power to an electric motor or to recharge a battery pack. The Volt can also be plugged into a common household electric outlet to recharge the on-board batteries, which will take about 6.5 hours. It is improbable to completely replace fossil-fueled internal combustion engine for decades to come, but the future certainly beholds more such electric automobiles.
The Dark Side:
Lithium-ion batteries are seen as a necessity in plug-in electrics, as they offer offer increased power and energy density. They are already used in cell phones, laptops, etc., but there are significant challenges in scaling up the technology for use in automotive applications. Thermal management is a problem that has resulted recently in fires in some laptops and cell phones.
While hand-built lithium-ion battery packs have been successfully adapted to low volume automotive production, this technology is not yet at the stage of commercial feasibility for mass production, keeping all the technical constraints applicable to the automotive environment. GM surely needs to get all this cleared up if they plan to launch the car by 2010.
Via: Smartplanet
