TheChargingPoint.com reports that a California-based company has announced a technological breakthrough that could herald the production of 300-mile range, affordable pure-electric cars. Envia Systems, a battery technology company, has designed a lithium-ion cell that significantly increases energy density while at the same time greatly reducing the cost.
The company, which was founded in 2007, says that its battery packs can deliver 400 watt-hours per kilogram of cell energy at a cost of about $150 per kilowatt-hour – less than half the average cost today. And to put that power output in context, Tesla reckons its Roadster’s battery develops 121 watt-hours per kilogram.
“We will be able to make smaller automotive packs that are also less heavy and much cheaper,” said Atul Kapadia, chairman and chief executive of Envia. “The cost of cells will be less than half — perhaps 45 percent — of cells today, and the energy density will be almost three times greater than conventional automotive cells.”
That weight saving is also a very significant advance, as the bulk of current battery technology blunts both performance and range.
The company, which was founded in 2007, says that its battery packs can deliver 400 watt-hours per kilogram of cell energy at a cost of about $150 per kilowatt-hour – less than half the average cost today. And to put that power output in context, Tesla reckons its Roadster’s battery develops 121 watt-hours per kilogram.
“We will be able to make smaller automotive packs that are also less heavy and much cheaper,” said Atul Kapadia, chairman and chief executive of Envia. “The cost of cells will be less than half — perhaps 45 percent — of cells today, and the energy density will be almost three times greater than conventional automotive cells.”
That weight saving is also a very significant advance, as the bulk of current battery technology blunts both performance and range.
