$10 Million Prize For First 500 Mile Battery Pack
Some people aren’t as concerned with saving the environment as they are with saving money. Indeed, money is much of the reason why we still don’t have electric cars. In many people’s minds they cost too much for too little range or power. And while we now have cars that can get upwards of 500-600 miles on a tank of gas… electric cars have their work cut out for them.
The big factor holding back electric cars are batteries. The government knows this, and currently there is a bill sitting in Congress called the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010. Among other provisions, it offers a $10 million award to the first developer to come up with a battery pack that can get 500 miles on a charge.
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The Obama administration has already handed out billions of dollars to help fund future forms of transportation. Some may scoff at this “waste” of taxpayer dollars, but that money is without a doubt keeping people at work and preparing the US for an energy constrained future.
There are two different versions of this bill, one in the House and one in the Senate. It is the Senate bill that has the $10 million award. That is a big carrot to dangle in front of would-be battery makers… but one has to ask, is it enough? Automakers around the world have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into researching battery technology. The most any of them can do in a reasonably sized package at a reasonable price — on electric power only — is about 100 miles.
The Tesla Roadster has a 200 mile range, but a $100,000 price tag. What are the stipulations of this award? Can you make a 500 mile battery that costs $500,000? Does the battery have to last at highway speeds, or can you crawl along at a snail’s pace on a tuned-up electric lawnmower?
What do you guys think. Is this award too much money, not enough…. and will it ever become law?
Source: Green Car Advisor
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June 2nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
I don’t understand the purpose of this. Money is already pouring into batteries and any shortcomings are not due to a lack of funds. Awards make sense for areas where there is currently little investment, but have a high potential impact. Batteries are not an area suffering from underinvestment or a lack of incentives.
It sounds more like congress just wants to look useful.
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 am
I agree with Chris. Moreover, since we can go electric tomorrow if it were an emergency, why not gub’ment stay out of the way for a change? Oh that’s right, quietly staying out of the way isn’t sexy, and that applies on both sides of the aisle. If oil is that precious, it will soon be priced accordingly, and we won’t worry about the cost of a battery pack.
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Ten million is cheapo if it works. It seems to me that the ideal battery/power supply is one that is standardized, and easily removed. That way when you are “out of gas” just pull into the station and swap yours for a fully charged one. Robert Heinlein thought of this over 60 years ago.
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:04 am
I do believe that offering that price makes sense. Here’s why:
It’s true that big company’s invest a lot more than 10 million to developed the batteries. But I think you are forgetting small companies and even individual people doing research in universities and the like. To them this prize is something important.
It’s important for us to remember that the biggest enemy of EV is oil prices…While it’s true that at the moment they are high, we never know what might happen tomorrow. Because of this, this prize represents a secure benefit for small companies and researchers.
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:57 am
10 mil is small potatoes compared to the tens to hundreds of billions awaiting the first group to create a practical battery with the energy density for 500 miles. Such a battery would be revolutionary far beyond vehicles. This is an attempt to incentive something that already has an incentive several orders of magnitude greater than this particular prize.
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 am
500 miles at what speed, at what discharge rate? How many ICE cars can go 500 miles on one tankful of fuel?
Sincerely, Neil
June 4th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Well, it makes more sense to offer 10 Million to anybody as a reward for battery technology than offer 10 Million for Bin Ladins head in a basket. Thats the differance between Obama and Bush. With a 500 mile battery we would have the “effect” of Bin Ladens head in a basket and a clean planet to boot. What is wrong with that?
June 4th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Well, shell out the 10 Mil as soon as the bill passes.
See article titled “Japanese Team Pushes Electric Car 623 Miles Without Recharging” on the same web page as the one above.
As Neil implied.. the devil is in the details…
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Driving in a Daihatsu Mira equipped with a huge 74 kWh lithium-ion battery and a brushless DC motor, the Japan EV Club has achieved a new world record for an electric car: 1003.184 kilometers (623 miles) without recharging.
Although the team didn’t exceed 25 mph and was on a racing oval at a constant speed, the 8.4 miles traveled per kWh (mpkWh) statistic is an amazing achievement in-and-of-itself.
…
June 8th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Why not just trot down to your local Nissan parts center, buy 5 replacement battery packs for your shiny new Leaf, pile ‘em up in the passenger seat and collect a check? Obviously.. need some constraints here.
July 1st, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Today, man’s Rope needs are fulfilled by new low-weight Nylon rope at the 5m-50m lengths due to the incredible expense of Nylon. When you get into longer lengths, cotton is just so much cheaper that a winch can’t be made which incorporates Nylon for the very long distances economically.
If only we could develop a technology which would… double the length… of our rope….
Lo and behold: The Knot.
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2x 250 mile battery packs = 1x 500 mile battery pack. This isn’t fscking rocket science, people. 10 million for a prototype *form factor*? Are you kidding me?