Tesla Roadster Powered by Laptop Batteries, Electric RAV4 Following Suit
The electric car industry has many challenges ahead of it, and not the least of them is efficient battery power.
The biggest car companies are taking two different tracks. Tesla motors championed the idea of using lithium ion laptop batteries in its Tesla roadster. The roadster makes use of bundles of battery cells, 6831, to be precise. These batteries allow it to go 245 miles before it has to be recharged.
Companies like Toyota motor Corp. and Daimler AG are following in Tesla’s steps and taking the laptop battery approach. Toyota will be using Tesla battery packs in its electric RAV4 to be introduced in 2012. Daimler uses the packs in its Smarts electric vehicle, as well as in the Mercedes-Benz A class autos.
Nissan motor Co. and General Motors Co. so far are sticking to larger batteries designed especially for electric vehicles. Both the Nissan leaf and the Chevy volt make use of these larger batteries.
Battery cost is a huge percentage of the total cost to manufacture an electronic car. According to Martin Eberhard, CEO Tesla, the laptop style batteries costs approximately $200 per kilowatt hour to make, which is about one fourth the cost of the larger style batteries.
Sanyo Electric produces more batteries than any other company in the world. Because of the blossoming electric car industry, Sanyo expects its sales to increase by a factor of three within 10 years. Significant economies of scale are expected to be achieved as the worldwide demand for batteries jumps upward. The resulting decrease in battery costs will bring down the price of electric cars and create additional demand for cars and their batteries.
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