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Breakthroughs in electric car design

Charge a car in time it takes for a coffee, SMH, Stephen Ottley, October 22, 2011 ELECTRIC cars are a big step closer to mainstream acceptance thanks to two breakthroughs. Long battery recharging has been the biggest hurdle for the car industry to overcome. But a technology being developed by Nissan and Japan’s Kansai University could solve the problem.

It has reportedly created a charger that can replenish a car’s batteries in 10 minutes, without any adverse affect on the batteries. Currently it can take up to eight hours to recharge an electric car…..

At present so-called fast chargers require 30 minutes to restore batteries to just 80 per cent capacity and cost more than $30,000.

The industry has been struggling to come up with a solution to long charging times as electric cars fight to become a viable alternative to petrol cars….Another hurdle cleared by the industry is an agreed standard of recharging plugs.

The move is seen as crucial to the implementation of public charging infrastructure. Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have all agreed to work together on the universal system for plug outlets, voltage and cables….http://smh.drive.com.au/charge-a-car-in-time-it-takes-for-a-coffee-20111021-1mcaf.html

October 23, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | energy storage, Japan