Firefly Energy creates a new type of lead acid battery, pushing for hybrid vehicle use
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid
Firefly Energy Inc., of Peoria, Ill has patented a new type of lead acid battery they claim would be an excellent choice for hybrid and electric vehicle use. The battery is of a lead acid design, but differs from traditional lead acid batteries by using a carbon-graphite foam grid instead of a conventional lead grid. They claim that this will reduce weight significantly, ease manufacturing concerns, allow the batteries to charge quicker and increase the available form factors of conventional lead acid batteries.
Today, most home based electric vehicles use conventional lead acid batteries, as pointed out by my fellow blogger here. But, as mentioned in that post, one problem is the batteries weight. Vehicle manufacturers of hybrid and electric vehicles get around this problem by using nickel metal hydride batteries or lithium ion. There are inherent issues with both of these technologies as well, which have been covered in past posts, and I am sure, future posts as well.
Firefly Energy is not talking prices just yet, however they claim on their site that the technology promises to be a lower cost solution to some of the problems we have been speaking about than what is currently available. Firefly also claims that the U.S. Army is a client of theirs, which bodes well for the technology. Many have been quoted as saying that battery technology is what is holding back current electric vehicle production, so this news could certainly be a step in the right direction.
[editor's update: click here for an in-depth AutoblogGreen Q&A with Firefly co-founder Mil Ovan]
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-16-2006 @ 11:02PM
Howard Lee Harkness said...
An improvement in PbSO4 technology certainly won't hurt! Even with the drawbacks of lead (toxic, and sulphuric acid is hazardous to handle), it is relatively inexpensive, and lead has the benefit of being easy to recycle.
According to the whitepaper at the referenced URL (a pretty good backgrounder), their battery is even easier to recycle than a standard battery. If they can deliver a energy/weight of twice the standard PbSO4, then this is a significant advance in battery technology. The increased durability and recharge rates are icing on the cake.
It will be interesting to run the numbers on the Ti-LiON technology to see which has the lowest total cost of ownership. I suspect that EV technology is about to reach a 'tipping' point, although I still thkn Diesel/PHEV is the best overall approach.
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12-18-2006 @ 11:20AM
Arnold said...
Why is Firefly pushing for hybrid vehicle use? Why don't they just start producing the batteries and if the batteries are as good as they claim, the market will come to them. That is, assuming the price is attractive.
I think they are wasting time before going into production and this will give their competition, around the world, an opportunity to develope an even better battery.
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1-04-2007 @ 5:11PM
Mahendra Oza said...
When will this 12 volt battery be available for testing in our military vehicle?
Now is the best time for us to start experimenting. We need 4 12 volt batteries each with 110 Amperes hours capacity.
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