Green Energy News | July 19, 1998

July 19, 1998 – Vol.3 No.16

ENERGIES... week of July 19,1998

BATTERY/BATTERY HYBRID. Electric Fuel Corporation and General Electric will work together to build a new, all electric, battery/battery hybrid propulsion system specifically for use in buses and heavy duty trucks. The first vehicle to use the system will be an all electric, full-size transit bus.

Power for the hybrid propulsion system will come from an Electric Fuel zinc-air battery along with an auxiliary battery (of unspecified type at this time.) The propulsion system will draw on the zinc-air battery for cruising and tap into the auxiliary battery for a boost during acceleration, merging into traffic, and hill climbing.

The bus is considered a hybrid because of the two distinct battery types and “re-energizing” systems for them. Electric Fuel zinc-air batteries are not recharged, but removed and remanufactured. Special facilities are needed for the removal, remanufacturing and replacement of the batteries which are part of a large “cassette”.

The auxiliary battery will be able to be recharged with typical recharging equipment. Since this battery can be recharged the propulsion system will include regenerative braking to increase range. Other Electric Fuel zinc-air powered vehicles have not had this feature.

General Electric will provide the drive system (motors, gearing, regenerative braking, etc.) and energy management system.

With a passenger capacity of 90 and a gross weight of 20 tons, the hybrid bus is expected to be able to run a complete 8-10 hour shift without battery replacement and recharging. The bus will meet all power and performance levels required by U.S. transportation authority standards, including enough stored energy to power air conditioning and handicap lifts.

Financing for the project came from the Israeli-U.S. Bi-national Industrial Research and Development Foundation.

BATTERIES FOR HYBRIDS. PolyStor Corporation has been awarded a $9.5 million contract by the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) to develop lithium-ion battery modules to be used in hybrid electric vehicles in the Partnership for Next Generation Vehicles Program (PNGV).

The first project for PolyStor will be to develop and test 10Ah cells to be packed into 48V (12 cell) modules, each complete with thermal management and electronics. The 10Ah lithium-ion cells will output more than 1000W/kg and weigh just 370 grams. Costs should be about $.50 to $1.00 per Wh, expected to decrease over time. After the development of these modules, the company will build 400 Volt systems to be tested in the PNGV hybrid cars.

PolyStor will be working with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop the batteries.