StoreDot's Insta-charge Battery 1
Electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for a long time. Conspiracy theorists have long postulated that Big Oil had a hand in suppressing their acceptance. That is all changing. The market is demanding EVs. The Sun can potentially deliver all the fuel we'll ever need, for free, without generating one cubic centimeter of greenhouse gas. So not only would they be economical but also environmentally friendly. Right now, driving a Tesla is quite the status symbol. However, there are two major issues that still need to be solved before EVs become the norm rather than the cool exception.
Range Anxiety
One of the biggest hurdles (other than cost) preventing EVs from gaining wide acceptance is so-called Range Anxiety, i.e. fear of running out of power. Charging stations are not ubiquitous yet and if you are somewhere out in the desert and run out of juice, you have no recourse but to call a tow truck. When Chevrolet introduce the Chevy Volt, I was really excited because here was a pure EV but with a small, efficient battery charger in the trunk, powered by gasoline. So you could travel 50 miles or so on pure electric but if the battery is getting low, the charger kicks in and you have another 400 miles or so to find a gas station or charge up. Chevy was so encouraged by this that they came out with a pure electric vehicle, the Chevy Bolt, which can go 238 miles on a single charge. That should be enough to set your mind at ease for day-to-day driving. Tesla's Model S is about the same, it can go 265 miles on a single charge. The Nissan Leaf is only rated about 107 miles. But as long as you are aware and only drive locally, it shouldn't be a problem. Even if you are driving long distance, you need to plan for charging stops but it can be done. However, this leads to the second problem.
Charging Time
The other flaw with EVs is the time to recharge the batteries. If you go home and plug your EV into a regular 120 volt charger, it could take 12 hours or more to recharge fully. This is significantly reduced if you install a 240 volt charger in your home. It cuts charging time down to about 6 - 8 hours. Tesla has built (and is building more) supercharger stations that can boost your car back to 80% full charge in about 20 minutes. Great for range anxiety but not good for impatient people. Right now these stations are limited to recharging Teslas but that may change in the future. Also, some communities are putting in parking for EVs and you can purchase a recharge there. But wouldn't it be nice if you just cruise in somewhere, top off your "tank" and be on your way in a jiffy? If only...
StoreDot's New Battery
Both the range anxiety and charging time problems may have a solution coming very soon. An Israeli company called StoreDot has come up with a new type of battery that can go from zero to full charge in about 5 minutes. This just happens to be exactly how long it takes to fill up your car with gasoline. So pulling into a supercharger station in a vehicle equipped with StoreDot batteries would be very similar to pulling into a gas station.
How does StoreDot do it? How did they achieve this breakthrough? I'll give you the nitty-gritty tomorrow. And by the way, if you have an iPhone, this should be of interest to you, too!
Range Anxiety
One of the biggest hurdles (other than cost) preventing EVs from gaining wide acceptance is so-called Range Anxiety, i.e. fear of running out of power. Charging stations are not ubiquitous yet and if you are somewhere out in the desert and run out of juice, you have no recourse but to call a tow truck. When Chevrolet introduce the Chevy Volt, I was really excited because here was a pure EV but with a small, efficient battery charger in the trunk, powered by gasoline. So you could travel 50 miles or so on pure electric but if the battery is getting low, the charger kicks in and you have another 400 miles or so to find a gas station or charge up. Chevy was so encouraged by this that they came out with a pure electric vehicle, the Chevy Bolt, which can go 238 miles on a single charge. That should be enough to set your mind at ease for day-to-day driving. Tesla's Model S is about the same, it can go 265 miles on a single charge. The Nissan Leaf is only rated about 107 miles. But as long as you are aware and only drive locally, it shouldn't be a problem. Even if you are driving long distance, you need to plan for charging stops but it can be done. However, this leads to the second problem.
Charging Time
The other flaw with EVs is the time to recharge the batteries. If you go home and plug your EV into a regular 120 volt charger, it could take 12 hours or more to recharge fully. This is significantly reduced if you install a 240 volt charger in your home. It cuts charging time down to about 6 - 8 hours. Tesla has built (and is building more) supercharger stations that can boost your car back to 80% full charge in about 20 minutes. Great for range anxiety but not good for impatient people. Right now these stations are limited to recharging Teslas but that may change in the future. Also, some communities are putting in parking for EVs and you can purchase a recharge there. But wouldn't it be nice if you just cruise in somewhere, top off your "tank" and be on your way in a jiffy? If only...
StoreDot's New Battery
Both the range anxiety and charging time problems may have a solution coming very soon. An Israeli company called StoreDot has come up with a new type of battery that can go from zero to full charge in about 5 minutes. This just happens to be exactly how long it takes to fill up your car with gasoline. So pulling into a supercharger station in a vehicle equipped with StoreDot batteries would be very similar to pulling into a gas station.
How does StoreDot do it? How did they achieve this breakthrough? I'll give you the nitty-gritty tomorrow. And by the way, if you have an iPhone, this should be of interest to you, too!
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Tales of the Vuduri
Tidbits and insights into the 35th century world of the Vuduri.
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