Volvo Developing Nano-Battery Tech Built Into Car Body Panels

cartechboy writes "Electric vehicle batteries have three problems — they're big, heavy, and expensive. But what if you could shift EV batteries away from being big blocks under the car and engineer them into the car itself? Research groups at Imperial College London working with Volvo have spent three years developing a way to do exactly that. The researchers are storing energy in nano structure batteries woven into carbon fiber--which can then be formed into car body panels. These panel-style batteries charge and store energy faster than normal EV batteries, and they are also lighter and more eco-friendly. The research team has built a Volvo S80 prototype featuring the panels where the battery panel material has been used for the trunk lid. With the materials used on the doors, roof and hood, estimated range for a mid-size electric car is around 80 miles."

Re:80-mile range? Keep trying...

[wagnerrp]

Which is retarded, because of all people, those buying pickup trucks (for actual utility use) should be clamoring over each other for electric versions. If you buy a truck (for reasons other than vanity), you do so to haul things, and if you're hauling things, you want low end torque. Electric motors handily outperform gasoline and diesel engines for low end torque. That's nearly all locomotives have been that way for decades, and modern heavy duty trucks use them rather than turbines.

Re:Hazard

[mark-t]

I didn't say that they don't pose *ANY*... I said that they don't pose *THAT KIND OF*.

The fire hazard that exists in lithium batteries exists because of a potential for a chemical reaction between the lithium and any nearby moisture. Carbon fibre batteries pose no such danger at all.

That said, if sufficiently damaged, the result with a carbon fibre battery is approximately the same as when a capacitor gets damaged. It is shorted out and becomes useless. The energy is released in an instant when the short occurs, just like a static spark... but since pure carbon is not especially flammable (eg: diamonds) a fire is still not terribly likely (still theoretically possible, but unlikely).

Re:Hazard

[Hatta]

pure carbon is not especially flammable (eg: diamonds)

Pure carbon is quite flammable. Try check out the MSDS for graphite [hawaii.edu]. The problem with diamonds is their surface area is relatively low, but you can burn them slowly with a hot enough flame and high enough concentration of oxygen.