News | MikroMasch

December 1, 2014

Fuel Cell Economics vs Batteries

Weâ€™ve been hearing a lot about fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) lately, thanks in large part to Toyota and itsÂ Mirai. But how does a FCEV really compare to a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) like the Tesla or a LEAF? Â I wanted to lookÂ at the economics between FCEVs and BEVs, and then […]

November 26, 2014

USABC Awards Funding for Stop-start Applications, Improved Electrolyte

The US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) has awarded $2.68 million to San Diego-basedÂ Maxwell Technologies for the development of a hybrid energy storage system for automotive stop-start applications. The competitively bid contract award is co-funded by the DOE. The 19-month program will focus on the technological and economic feasibility of adapting […]

November 26, 2014

EaglePicher Awarded Funding to Produce Li-ion Batteries for Military Applications

The US Department of Defense has awarded EaglePicher, a company with a long history in the defense industry, $22 million in funding for Phase II of the Lithium-Ion Battery for Military Applications (LIMA) project. The programâ€™s goal is to assure the affordable production of items deemed essential for national defense. […]

November 26, 2014

Why Arenâ€™t Rural Electric Cooperatives Champions of Local Clean Power?

When it comes to ownership, there are few better structures for keeping a communityâ€™s wealth local than a cooperative. So why is it that Americaâ€™s rural electric cooperatives are tethered to dirty, old coal-fired power plants instead of local-wealth generating renewable power? There are a lot of answers to this […]

November 18, 2014

Daimler Subsidiary Li-Tec to Cease Production of Battery Cells

Daimler subsidiary Li-Tec will stop producing Li-ion battery cells in December, closing the only German factory currently producing cells for EVs. â€œOur cells are very good, but at current production figures far too expensive,â€ Daimler Manager Harald KrÃ¶ger told Der Spiegel. â€œWe have realized that a car manufacturer does not […]

November 8, 2014

Researchers gain fundamental insight into key reaction for Li-air batteries

A team from Delft University in The Netherlands and the University of Waterloo in Canada has used operando X-ray diffraction to show that oxidation of electrochemically-generated Li2O2 in high energy density Li-air batteries occurs in two stages, but in only one step for commercial (crystalline) Li2O2. This discovery reveals a […]

October 3, 2014

This air-breathing solar panel stores its own electricity, cutting the cost of solar power significantly

Itâ€™s a solar cell! Noâ€¦ itâ€™s a rechargeable lithium-airÂ battery! Noâ€¦ waitâ€¦ itâ€™s both: Itâ€™s the worldâ€™s first all-in-one solar battery! The new device, developed by Ohio State University, is essentially an air-breathing lithium battery that recharges via a built-in solar cell. This is significant, because one of the biggest problems […]

March 26, 2014

Lithium-Air Batteries Planned By Volkswagen

It has been confirmed that Volkswagen is working on a powerful new battery for its EV fleet.Â Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Dr. Heinz-Jakob NeusserÂ said thatÂ â€œan 80kWh unit is under development using our own technology. It would provide between three and four times the battery power in a given package.â€ […]

March 19, 2014

Lithium-air battery pushed as electric vehicle breakthrough

Research presented at the meeting of the America Chemical Society suggests that the current dominant technology for electric vehicles, lithium-ion, could be surpassed by batteries employing air as the cathode. At present most electric vehicles on the market today have a range less than 200km on a single charge. To […]

November 13, 2013

Better batteries through biology?

Lithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with a much greater driving range. But bringing that promise to reality has faced a number of challenges, including the […]

April 20, 2012

IBM creates breathing, high-density, light-weight lithium-air battery

As part of its Battery 500 project â€” an initiative started by IBM in 2009 to produce a battery capable of powering a car for 500 miles â€” Big Blue has successfully demonstrated a light-weight, ultra-high-density, lithium-air battery. In IBMâ€™s lithium-air battery, oxygen is reacted with lithium to create lithium […]