Energy Storage

In a crucial step towards the development of self-powering portable electronics, RMIT University researchers have for the first time characterised the ability of piezoelectric thin films to turn mechanical pressure into electricity.

The client (or maybe boss) wants me or someone in my team to get that low-power system they have built running from one of those solid-state batteries and it is time to figure out how to put the whole power system together.

Aircraft are becoming more electric even to the extent of having electric traction just like an electric car. Curiously this is starting at the light and heavy end, with medium sized feeder aircraft adopting electrification later.

Electric vehicle parts are not evolving: they are changing completely. Sometimes, the traction battery will be replaced by a supercapacitor or supercabattery and the dumb skin of the vehicle by smart skin. Energy harvesting and range extenders are new key enabling technologies and AC motors are often replacing DC motors. This is an industry in ferment.

IDTechEx has issued another report in its series on the various types of electric vehicle - hybrid and pure electric - and their future entitled Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Industry Worldwide 2011-2021 (www.IDTecHEx.com/LEV). Electric vehicles by land, water and air will be a market of over $210 billion in ten years from now. The segments of this market are very different in certain respects yet they increasingly share some technical challenges and vehicle and component suppliers. This report concerns electric bicycles, ebikes and other Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) that constitute an important part of the overall EV business. Other reports in the series cover aircraft, marine, buses/taxis, military/police/security and cars.

To penetrate the fog surrounding lithium-ion traction batteries we should use the term generically for all rechargeable batteries involving lithium ions. For example, it is false to talk of lithium polymer as an alternative to lithium-ion because the term lithium polymer simply refers to a form of electrolyte involving solid polymer electrolyte usually with gel.

Currently the key enabling technologies in electric vehicles are motors, batteries and control systems. For the next ten years, add to that energy harvesting, supercapacitors (ultracapacitors) and range extenders that replace internal combustion engines in hybrids, notably fuel cells and mini turbines.

IDTechEx has issued another report in its series on the various types of electric vehicle - hybrid and pure electric - and their future entitled Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Industry Worldwide 2011-2021 .

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure will see a frenzy of change over the next ten years. That will involve how it is made and installed, how it operates and even whether it is needed at all. For example, the 1.3 million electric vehicles for the disabled, obese and elderly being sold this year will rise to over three million in 2021 and none of them will have a charging station - you simply plug them into a regular socket. Registering that the most convenient and affordable charging station is none at all, the e-bike manufacturers have at last started to move in the same direction. Adoption of the new lithium-ion batteries releases a huge amount of weight and space and a charger can now be fitted into the e-bike. That will become more affordable as the years go by. Here are some more of the surprises revealed during the research for the new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure 2011-2021".

Light Tape UK announces the launch of the new portable, quick recharge, compact, battery units to drive the Light Tape® product in its various portable applications. The new units have been specifically developed to address the existing limitations associated with driving Light Tape using portable battery technology

A radically new approach to the design of batteries, developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), could provide a lightweight and inexpensive alternative to existing batteries for electric vehicles and the power grid.