GM: Will Build Major Lithium-Ion Battery Factory in Michigan
GM announced plans to build the first lithium-ion battery-pack manufacturing facility operated by a major auto maker in the U.S. The plant, which will be located in Michigan, is expected to begin output in 2010. Until then, the Chevy Volt’s battery pack will be supplied by a LG Chem Ltd. unit, based in Troy, Michigan.
CEO Rick Wagoner said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, ”The design, development and production of advanced batteries must be a core competency for GM, and we’ve been rapidly building our capability and resources to support this direction.”
Additionally, GM announced that it would be opening a new automotive battery lab to further strengthen design, development and testing capabilities, as well as creating a partnership with the University of Michigan to develop a specialized curriculum for battery engineers.
While questions still surround the future of the Volt (and GM in general), these recent announcements, at least, are a good sign.
GM makes a huge bet on the Volt
With Detroit facing criticism from every corner, industry “leader” GM seems to be betting their future on the Chevy Volt. Although the electric powered Volt is being widely marketed by GM and touted by them as proof of a new philosophy, the car is not slated to arrive in showrooms until late 2010.
The NY Times estimates that, since the Volt requires the development of completely new technologies, that the R&D price tag for this car could exceed the $1 billion it generally costs to develop a new car model. READ MORE
Miles Electric Vehicles looks to introduce sedan by 2010
Santa Monica based Miles Electric Vehicles is ramping up to produce an electric sedan than should compete with Tesla Motors’ Model S, and the Chevy Volt. Apparently, Miles is also in the process of raising another $40 million in funds. This comes at a time when many clean technology companies are suffering at the hands of the credit crunch, economic slowdown, and drop in oil prices. READ MORE
Thursday’s Environment
· Green Inc. notes that the Indian coal minister visited the US Appalachian region last week in pursuit of striking a deal to import American coal to India. Of course, given the global natural of greenhouse gas emissions, if we are able to cut back on our own coal production, only to then increase our export of coal to other nations, we will be accomplishing less than nothing.
· Energy Outlook wonders if the slowing of global oil production resulting from the credit crunch and the tendency of governments like Iran and Venezuela to invest oil revenues in social subsidies instead of production, could result in “an even bigger oil price spike within a few years.”
· Red Green and Blue reports that Australia is about to develop one of the world’s largest electric recharging systems. “The $676 million project could see the establishment of as many as two million recharging points, as well as more than 500 battery swap stations, where drivers can exchange depleted batteries without the need to wait for a recharge.”
· The Daily Green warns that China, which has already surpassed the US in greenhouse gas emissions, “continues under a business-as-usual trajectory, without seriously cutting back on its carbon emissions, then its greenhouse gas output could double — or more — by 2030.”
· AutoBlogGreen reports that GM took one step closer to producing the Chevy Volt when it announced a subsidiary of the South Korean company LG would be producing that cars batteries. (Of course, it is the battery that will ultimately make or break the electric car.)
Battery technology must progress substantially before fully powering cars
It seems that the state of battery technology is still a ways away from being able to allow for widespread adoption of purely electric vehicles. This is one of the key points in the debate about the Pickens Plan. That is, whether we should convert all of our cars to natural gas, or go straight to electric? The answer depends on whether the technology is or is not there yet.
The next generation of car batteries are going to be litium-ion, which will replace nickel metal-hydride batteries. However, in order to move to the next generation of vehicle batteries, big improvements must be made to extend the life, lower the cost, and increase the safety of these new batteries. This is according to Tien Duong, a high ranking official at the U.S. Department of Energy, who answered questions at a lithium battery conference last week.
According to Duong, we are still some ways away from developing a lithium battery that can power a car for 40 miles on electricity alone by 2016, a goal of the Dept. of Energy. On the one hand, this sounds surprising given the recent excitement over proposed electric cars like the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius plug-in. But on the other, as I sit here with an overheating notebook computer on my lap and a cell phone whose battery can’t last for more than one day, both of which use lithium-ion batteries, I can’t say that I’m shocked. If that is in fact the case, we better not put all our eggs in the electric car basket quite yet… at least for the near future.
[Note: in the Reuters article, Duong does say that there is a lot of discussion in Washington of funding a Department of Defense $1 billion battery project. This marshalling of resources, to me, would seem to be one of the best shots at making rapid progress with this technology.]
The path towards electric cars
Regardless of which alternative energy plan one subscribes to, it is clear that getting our cars off of oil is one of the primary steps that must be taken by our society. Whether we make natural gas a temporary step along this path, or not, it is evident that the one solution that will ultimately allow us to power cars with clean energy is by running them on electricity. This is because energy generation for the national grid can be done on a wide scale basis with renewable sources, like wind, solar and geothermal. (Of course this benefit is lost if the national grid continues to be supplied primarily by coal energy.)
The Chicago Tribune had a piece recently looking at the Chevy Volt, which after Tesla Motors’ offerings, is the most highly anticipated electric vehicle. According to GM, the Volt, which is scheduled to come out in 2010, should be able to go 40 miles on just a charge, and then another 350 miles on a small gas engine that is used to recharge the batteries. This scenario will be most ideal for commuters, who rarely go much beyond 40 miles per trip. Our one big concern remains the viability of modern batteries to provide reliable and sustained performance. One need only have experienced the frustration of diminished performance from a cell phone or laptop battery, which often occurs after less than a year, to know that battery technology still has a ways to go. This is why, although fully electric cars are most likely the real long term solution, we may still need a temporary step along the way, a la natural gas, until battery technology catches up to our needs.
