DOE's near-term electric vehicle battery program. Status of improved lead-acid, nickel/iron, and nickel/zinc battery developments
From the inception of the DOE/ANL Near-Term eV Battery Program in 1978, significant progress in lead-acid, nickel/iron and nickel/zinc battery technology has been made towards achieving the technical performance goals necessary for widespread use of these battery systems in electric vehicle applications. The energy density of lead-acid eV batteries has advanced from 25 to 30 Wh/kg to over 40 Wh/kg. The prospect for obtaining a lead-acid battery having both high energy density and long cycle life in a few years is very promising. Nickel/iron modules have demonstrated a specific energy of nearly 50 Wh/kg and a specific power of 100 W/kg, cycle lives of 300 have been achieved during early 1980 and testing continues, and the energy efficiency has been improved from less than 50% to over 65%. Nickel/zinc module test data have shown a specific energy of nearly 70 Wh/kg and a specific power of 130 W/kg. However, cycle life improvements are still needed. Cost reduction continues to receive major emphasis at developers of both nickel/zinc and nickel/iron batteries. Based on the continued demonstration of viable solutions to technical problems in the 1980 to 1983 time-frame, these near-term batteries will emerge as contenders for electric vehicle applications. The relative cost/performance/life tradeoff of these battery systems continues to receive emphasis in the DOE/ANL R and D Program. While it would be premature at the present time to select winning systems or specific technical approaches, it is the intent of the DOE/ANL program management to continue supporting the development of the most viable approaches in response to the 1986 commercialization goal.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 6573707
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-800523-4
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3. international electric vehicle exposition and conference, St. Louis, MO, USA, May 1980
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Prospect of advanced lead-acid, nickel/iron and nickel/zinc batteries for electric vehicle applications
Development of aqueous batteries for electric vehicles. Summary report, October 1980-September 1981
Related Subjects
25 ENERGY STORAGE
ELECTRIC-POWERED VEHICLES
ELECTRIC BATTERIES
IRON-NICKEL BATTERIES
PERFORMANCE
LEAD-ACID BATTERIES
NICKEL-ZINC BATTERIES
COMMERCIALIZATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
DATA
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
INFORMATION
METAL-METAL OXIDE BATTERIES
NUMERICAL DATA
VEHICLES
330300* - Advanced Propulsion Systems- Electric-Powered Systems
250902 - Energy Storage- Batteries- Performance & Testing