Some day, the world may rely solely on electric transportation. While that day is pretty far off in the future, when it happens it will likely be because the lithium ion battery which led the way. Currently, a large number of vehicles in the product-pipeline are scheduled to be released with batteries that are not yet in production. The Chevy Volt looms large as the number one example of a company putting a huge amount of faith into the lithium ion battery. Tesla's exciting Roadster literally uses thousands of little lithium ion batteries which usually find their way into laptop computers. There's truly a great deal riding on the future of lithium ion, and we expect that it will be these batteries which power our upcoming electric cars. Let's move.

Reviving long-forgotten automotive brands seems to be all the rage of late, with Zap brining back Detroit Electric and now a Belgian company called Green Propulsion calling up the Imperia marque. Imperia was another Belgian brand that operated in the first half of the last century. The company is working a concept for a new car with styling that harkens back to the original Imperia models. Under the skin, though, this machine is all new. The new Imperia GP is equipped with 174hp 2.0L V-4 combined with a 130hp electric motor. Electrical energy is stored in a 8.2kWh lithium polymer battery. The retro-styled coupe has plug-in capability and can supposedly deliver CO₂ emissions of only 87g/km in combined driving. Running on batteries alone, the coupe can accelerate from 0-62mph in 7.1 sec. With both the electric motor and engine running that drops to 4.8 sec. It's not known at this point when a running vehicle will be available or how much it will cost but it surely won't come cheap. There's a CGI video after the jump.

[Source: Imperia Auto]

Solar power has the highest power density among all renewable energies, so we should certainly be devoting a great deal of research into how best to capture and use that power. Being that solar electric power cells generally deliver their power in the form of DC current, as opposed to AC current like would be used in a home, it makes sense to pair solar power with batteries and battery powered devices. One problem with this strategy is that electronics tend to be small, and get smaller with each revision. Not only that, when one thinks of solar cells, they generally think of flat surfaces, of which there are few on electronic devices, or cars for that matter. Fortunately, all of these problems are being worked on, and solutions are being developed.

Take, for instance, this article from Technology Review. This article details what the European Polymer Solar Battery project has come up with: thin, flexible lithium polymer batteries with integrated solar recharging. What is noteworthy about this project is that the batteries must have a charging limiter built in to protect from over-charging the batteries. The batteries being used are the same as the ones used in the iPod nano. What possible problems might this be a solution to? Being a blog on automobiles, I think of the car battery. Removing the large lead-acid battery from under the hood and the associated charging system, i.e., the alternator or generator, belts and pulleys would obviously save gas and cut down on maintenance.

[Source: Technology Review]