Batteries slowly starting to leap forward?

Hitachi announced a production date for their third generation li-ion battery technology, and a sampling time frame for their new fourth generation batteries. Are we finally getting there? Not quite…

A little bit ago, I was skeptical of an announcement by Hitachi about a 4,500W/kg battery they had planned to ship in the future. Well today Hitachi announced that battery will be sampling by the end of the year but still without a ship date. So its slowly inching closer, but a little bit of research shows that their third generation battery (more below) was announced in a research paper (abstract only) back in 2005, or a lead time of at least 5 years from research to production. So it seems likely that it might be another 3-5 years (given more interest in HEVs and other battery applications) before these batteries hit the market, maybe in time for the 1.5-gen PHEVs and BEVs.

Their third generation battery I mentioned above with a output of 3,000W/kg is set to enter mass production next year. However, I found a presentation for Pollutec 2008 by Hitachi, with cell specifics fairly close to this battery and the energy density was only 83Wh/kg. With a module rating of 75Wh/kg, it would increase the Volt’s battery from 180kg to 230kg (28% more) though you’d be able to go from 0-60 in no time flat – that many batteries would be able to source around 500kW, way more than is necessary for an electric H3, let alone a small car (670 hp).

Hitachi’s new batteries aren’t likely useful for PHEVs until the energy density ratio goes up, given the increased size and weight over batteries with a little less power density and higher energy density. They are more likely to end up in hybrids like the Prius rather than any BEVs or PHEVs. A small 3kWh pack could produce 100kW (133 hp), which is both smaller than the last-gen Prius battery (~4kWh), weighs less, and more powerful than the previous electric or gasoline engine. Fuel economy could be significantly boosted by this new application as the battery could drive for 5 miles in an electric only mode if plugged in.