MIT's Nano Storage Could Replace Hybrid Batteries 191
mattnyc99 writes "Last week we discussed Popular Mechanics' reporting from MIT, but missed one of the coolest breakthrough of all, something scientists have been working on quietly as Detroit spends money elsewhere. The Lab for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems has been doing some mega-efficient work with ultracapacitors, which store drastically less energy than a battery but have essentially none of the drawbacks — especially via carbon nanotube arrays. Automotive experts say the new research is enough to start replacing batteries in hybrid cars, and plug-in vehicles might not be far behind. From the scientist who thinks ultracapacitors are potential competitors for the pack in his Toyota Prius: 'I try to contain myself, because it hasn't been proven yet, but it could be a real paradigm change.'"
Think of this as the Future not as the Present (Score:3, Insightful)
During this time, it would be logical to buy one of the 2009 or 2010 model year plug-in hybrids that will be on the market - and then ten years down the road see if a battery pack replacement using this capacitor technology is on the market and cheap enough due to large scale production to implement.
Do now. Not ten years in the future.
(p.s. a cure for half of all cancers is being tested in the UK right now, but it takes almost a decade to do the trials before it comes to market)
Focus fusion (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:less than batteries? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Electricity (Score:4, Insightful)
Power demands are much lower at night, so a population charging electric cars at night might allow us to make more efficient use of the grid all day long, instead of building it to handle a peak load it only sees 2 hours a day.
Detroit spending money elsewhere? (Score:3, Insightful)
I find it amusing that the summary takes a jab at American automakers in light of the fact that Ford has an on-going partnership with MIT. Whether Ford's funding is supporting this specific project I can't confirm, but clearly they are funding these types of projects. A press release describing the partnership can be found here [mit.edu].
And just because they aren't investing specifically at MIT doesn't mean they aren't investing in this sort of research.
Re:How about on-the-go charging? (Score:3, Insightful)
Incremental changes tend to work a lot better than radical departures, especially when the capital costs are as huge as in the case of replacing our entire transportation infrastructure.
As for the person who asked about who would pay -- that's easy. Ever seen an EZ-Pass toll booth?
Re:Please apply for a position at MIT (Score:1, Insightful)
I don't think it's true in this case, but I've also seen articles that exaggerated the claims made by the researchers. It would be quite possible for the people at MIT to have made a discovery that was useful for some other purpose but not the one in the article. In that case too, it's perfectly legitimate to point out a weakness in the claims of the article. It's not ragging on the researchers; it's ragging on the article writer.