Eco Factor: Lithium-ion batteries for automobile applications from Hitachi.
Lithium-Air batteries promise a 10X increase in storage capacity in lab tests, however, their practical use is a couple of decades away and till then car manufacturers will be using more conventional forms of on-board electricity, which comes from Li-ion batteries. Hitachi has announced that their fourth-generation lithium-ion battery will have the world’s highest power density of 4,500W/kg, which is 1.7 times the output of the batteries in use today.
Sampling of the battery will start this fall, but the production will definitely be after the company launches its third-gen battery in 2010, which has a power density of 3,000W/kg. The second-generation battery, which is in use today, has an output of 2,600 W/kg and is being developed for the latest hybrid cars and railway use. It is also the world’s only mass-produced lithium-ion battery for on-board applications.
Via: GreenCarCongress
