a new battery takes off in a race to electric cars

Jason pontinmarch 11,2007 vrooroom!
Or, to be more precise, a little more gentle: brmmm.
A123 System, start-up-
In Watertown, the masses.
Said it created a strong, safe, long termlived battery.
If the battery achieves the manufacturer\'s ambition, the future of the car will be a softer sound. To date, all-
The electric car failed due to insufficient battery.
At the end of 1990, GM\'s future EV1 car was favored by drivers with a strong sense of environmental protection, who admired its innovative engineering, but since the car uses a large original nickel metal hydrogen battery, its range is limited, its acceleration will drop as the battery ages, and its two
Seat layout is not very comfortable for Big Corn
Fed North America.
\"The problem is availability,\" said Nick Zelenski. M.
Chief vehicle engineer.
\"When you are going to charge ev1, you have to plan your life. ” G. M.
It makes only 1,117 of the experimental cars because it believes American drivers will not buy the ideal thing that offends the nation\'s open roads. Now, G. M.
Plan two plugs
Hybrid cars.
Like Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars. M.
The model will supplement their motor with the power of the internal combustion engine.
The difference is that most of the electricity for daily commuting will come from battery packs that can be charged from ordinary home sockets.
Without using a gas engine, the mileage of the new model is expected to be at least 40 miles.
Although it\'s smaller than all of them.
The hybrid features of the electric EV1, the new model will provide them with a larger total range. AdvertisementG. M.
Say the extra cost of the battery pack means the plug
The price of hybrid cars will be thousands of dollars higher than similar models.
Electric cars.
But if gasoline is $2 a gallon, drivers who travel an average of 40 miles a day can also save $450 a year.
Because the average daily mileage of American cars is 33 miles (
In the electric range of the new model)
Driving 155 miles per gallon, many drivers fill up with gas every few months. AdvertisementG. M.
Hope to start selling the first car, a plug
In the hybrid version of the Saturn Vue sport utility, the fastest is 2009.
The second is the Chevrolet Volt, which exists only as a concept.
There is an amazing difference from the traditional car design.
Volt\'s internal combustion engine is not connected to the drive system like the current hybrid.
In the case of Volt, it is only used to charge the battery of the vehicle.
In short, Volt will play a role as a real electric vehicle and cover the internal combustion engine
It is no coincidence that it has also been designed as a recognized traditional American compact seat five that can drive hundreds of miles to the mother\'s home on Thanksgiving Day.
\"The real breakthrough is the new battery that gives us energy density --
This in turn provides us with a reliable, high
A package that provides power in a relatively small space . \"Zelenski said. G. M.
Selected a123 System (
With partner Cobasys)
To develop batteries that could be used for Saturn\'s Vue, he said, it is considering awarding a123 systems a similar contract for the Volt concept car to take advantage of the company\'s compelling new rechargeable lithium battery.
Rechargeable lithium batteries have been used on laptops and mobile phones since the beginning of 1990. (
Their common name \"lithium ion batteries\" is repeated, as all batteries conduct current by allowing ions to pass through between the two electrodes. )
But despite the lightweight rechargeable lithium battery
Compounds with high activity of cobalt oxide are usually used
To date, it has been considered impractical for transportation because they are not strong enough to explode or catch fire if pierced, shaken or overheated.
A123 System battery is different. Yet-
Jiang Ming, professor of materials science and engineeringI. T. and a co-
Professor Jiang said the founders of a123 systems described their strengths: \"in hybrid cars, our batteries offer faster acceleration than any other battery of the same size.
\"The chemical stability of the cathode material greatly improves the safety and extends the battery life.
\"The history of the A123 System provides a lesson for the adaptability of entrepreneurs.
When Professor Jiang and two others founded the company in 2002, it worked on a radical business proposition: it wanted to develop a technology, \"Self-assembly\" of component materials into practical lithium batteries.
\"Imagine a stretchable battery that fits the shape of a device or appliance,\" said Professor Jiang . \".
\"They can also be deposited in very small volumes to power micro and nano devices. ”But self-
Despite the great potential of assembling batteries, it turns out to be difficult to develop
Or, at least more expensive and uncertain than the direct commercial possibility of rechargeable lithium batteries with new applications.
\"It doesn\'t work,\" said another colleague, Bart Riley.
Founder, research and development of Vice President A123\'s. (The third co-
The founder is Ric Fulop, currently vice president of business development, who is also involved in starting a business
Of the five other companies)
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By the end of 2003, the company had abandoned itself.
Assembled for another technology that is not very chemical but still eye-catching.
It replaces cobalt oxide and uses a common substance-iron phosphate, but it is assembled in a new type of nano-material. structure —
The particles used are 100 times smaller than conventional oxides, and the conductive capacity is 8 orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional phosphate.
The new combination provides high power, stability and longevity.
Advertising to the new technology seems to be a smart decision, if hard.
Today, privately held A123Systems has raised $0. 102 billion from investors like Sequoia Capital, Motorola and GE.
The company has 250 employees in China, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States.
In addition to the development work with G. M.
It produces batteries that drive Black & Decker and DeWalt professional power tools.
According to David Vieau, chief executive of a123systems, the company enjoys \"hundreds of millions of dollars\" on its contract \".
Pre-commitment to self
The component is reserved only in the company\'s nerdy name, which comes from an equation called \"Hamaker force constant\" which is used to calculate nanometers
Size and start \"A123. . .
Although the a123 System still wants to return to itself
One day the battery was assembled and it still focused on the future of transportation.
At this point, the company\'s founders and senior managers combine business intelligence with the enthusiasm of millennials: they sincerely believe that their rechargeable lithium batteries can reduce the number of those that cause global warmingThese plug-
In hybrid vehicles, \"it will reduce gasoline demand for most drivers by more than 70% and carbon emissions by 50%, which will have a significant impact on the environment \". Vieau said. Driving a plug-
In hybrid cars powered by A123 batteries, most drivers rarely use gasoline engines.
Although the electricity charged to the battery is mainly from carbon dioxide
According to a study by Argonne National Laboratory 2005, burning gasoline is the most polluted transportation energy when producing power plants.
The goal of the A123 System is to apply new technologies born from primitive science to solve a difficult problem.
The chairman of the company is Gururaj Deshpande, who is also an entrepreneur
Founder and Chairman of Sycamore Networks.
As he explained: \"This company can play a role in reducing our dependence on oil and cleaning up the environment.
Any company, as long as they contribute to these efforts in any way, will do a good job in the world.
Jason Pontin is the editor-in-chief and publisher of M-owned magazine and website Technology ReviewI. T. E-
Mail: pontin @ nytimescom.
A version of the article appears on the New York version of the BU3 page with the title: a new battery takes off in a race against an electric car.
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