DBM Energy Audi A2 Electric Car

DBM Energy Audi A2 Electric Car

Since the automobiles were invented there as been movements to make them electric. In fact, there was a time in the 1890s and the early 1900s where the electric car was a fierce competitor to the internal combustion powered car. There were even fleet applications of the electric car in New York City in 1897. The problem with the electric car then and still today, more than 100 years later, is the range. That may all be changing with a revolutionary battery technology from DBM Energy in Germany.

DBM Energy Audi A2 Electric Car

DBM Energy Audi A2 Electric Car

DBM has modified an Audi A2 to run on a completely electric drivetrain and driven it 375 miles at an average speed of 55 MPH. No, you didn’t miss read that, they were able to achieve 375 miles. Even more impressive than the range is that the A2 was able to keep all four of its seats and still looks like an A2. Did we mention that this particular electric car is able to recharge in 6 minutes when charged from a direct current source? Given our recent reports on the 2011 Nissan LEAF and our ongoing coverage of the Tesla, this isn’t just impressive, it is almost unbelievable.

The secret is DBM’s battery technology called KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer. It sounds to good to be true, but this isn’t the first application this battery technology has been used in by DBM. Currently, there are forklifts in warehouse environments that use not only the battery technology, but also a completely electric powertrain. Even more interesting is that the forklifts in this example can run for 28 hours of continuous operation.

Now I have to admit we still have some skepticism on the subject, but if the technology is as durable as current battery technology, then we could see electric cars becoming a fierce competitor in the automotive industry for the first time in the last 100 years. Something that hasn’t been disclosed—the price of this new KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer battery technology.

 

 

[Source: AllCarsElectric.com, UPI.com]