Eco-Thinker

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory, along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. (Cambridge, MA) and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri, are developing a novel way to collect energy from the sun with a technology that could potentially cost pennies a yard, be imprinted on flexible materials and still draw energy after the sun has set.

Could this possibly mean what we think it means for electric cars? The question this raises is, if the Tesla, for a commonly known example, can travel 240 miles on a charge, will the new design allow for a 2,400 mile trip? It appears that little change to the size of the battery itself will be needed, but a major change to the life of the battery could result from the newer version.

Ok, I know I am going EV crazy here on the posts, but there has been an abnormally refreshing amount of coverage on electric cars, batteries, and electric drive systems as of late.

A lead sales representative from Phoenix Motorcars tells us about the Nanosafe lithium nano titanate battery that powers the Phoenix SUV.

This is a great article with new information on Altairnano’s NanoSafe batteries that power the Phoenix Motorcars SUVs that go on sale in 2008. I cannot stress my excitement about viable EV technology.

Lithium-Ion gets an upgrade. Electric vehicles are quickly becoming more accessible and affordable. Altair Technologies is a developer of nanomaterials for alternative energy and has developed a nano titanate battery system called “nanotitanate” which overcomes many disadvantages to the conventional lithium-ion batteries in ways of efficiency, battery life, charge time, and safety.