Escape HEV Battery Pack
General Electric, the massive corporation that owns among other things NBC Network, is currently building a $100 million plant in the state of New York. The plant's initial focus will be on sodium-chemistry batteries for applications ranging from locomotives to tugboats. Located in Albany, the plant will provide up to 350 manufacturing jobs.
Here is where things might get interesting in regards to electric cars. GE recently invested $70 million into A123 Systems for the development of lithium-ion batteries and battery packs which will find their way into Chrysler vehicles down the road.
Lithium-ion batteries have tremendous power, while sodium chemistry batteries have exceptional storage capacity. Combine both types of batteries, and you could end up with exceptional storage and power in one battery.
According to Information Week, "The most technologically interesting aspects of the announcement may be the potential it hold for automotive batteries. If the power of lithium-ion batteries and the storage capability of sodium batteries were to be combined, they might yield a superior battery for hybrid cars."
We will have to wait and see if GE has this thought in mind, for now we can only wonder what a lithium-ion sodium battery could provide for hybrid and electric cars.
Source: Edmunds
