Batteries

New battery charge estimation algorithms developed by engineers at the University of California (UC), San Diego, are on the verge of vastly improve the capabilities of current lithium-ion batteries. The changes center around improving charging times, potentially allowing for batteries that charge...

Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place, which provides electric-car services to customers in Israel, is no longer CEO of the company, the firm has confirmed. In an official statement posted earlier today, the company said that Agassi has been replaced by Evan Thornley, previously CEO of Better Place...

Electric car makers go to great lengths to ensure that the high voltage batteries used in their cars are safe, even under fairly extreme circumstances. But just how far can you go to test lithium-ion cells to destruction? Well, if the video above is anything to go by, there's plenty you can do to...

With plug-in cars now on the market, rare-earth metals are a hot commodity. They're needed in one type of electric motor and various electronic components, and volume projections for hybrid and electric cars mean that increasingly larger quantities will be required. China has largely cornered the...

Hybrid and electric cars live and die by the performance of their battery packs, so battery development is an ongoing process to improve these vehicles. Eaton Corporation has announced it is currently working on a cost-effective power control system for hybrid vehicle batteries, designed to reduce...

What can be done to dispel the assertion that the relatively short range of electric cars isn't suitable for most drivers? Well, you can either drive around in one yourself, displaying a lack of problems as you drive between work and back each day like millions of other drivers, and encourage...

It's been a very, very tough 18 months for lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems. In late May, the company said there was "substantial doubt" about its ability to remain in business. Now, A123 has announced a tentative deal to recapitalize the company that would--if approved--give an 80-percent...

Sometimes you see remarkable cars in corporate parking lots. This photo, for instance, sent to us by a reader who prefers to remain anonymous, shows five Nissan compact crossovers lined up in the parking lot at the U.S. headquarters of electric-car service provider Better Place. With both left-hand...

Man-made carbon dioxide might be something we're trying to reduce, but on its own, carbon is an abundant and rather useful element. It's also been central to two of the most important scientific materials discoveries of recent years--graphene, and carbon nanotubes. The latter involves rolling the...

It's not for no reason that electric cars are more expensive to buy than their fossil-fueled counterparts. If you wanted to point the finger of blame squarely at one thing, you'd likely be pointing it at batteries. At the moment, a typical lithium-ion battery pack costs around $500-$600 per...

Inspiration can come from the strangest of places, but in the fast-paced world of electric car technology you might not expect it to come from one hundred years ago. However, when the idea came from Thomas Edison you might be able to understand why scientists have given it another look. The...

How expensive are electric car battery packs? It’s a topic of much discussion among electric car fans, and a closely guarded secret within the auto industry, but now an industry analyst has suggested that improved technology and economies of scale has lowed electric car battery pack costs to...

Despite unveiling what it says will be a revolutionary new vehicle battery last week, Massachusetts-based firm A123 Systems is fighting skepticism that it will become the “next Solyndra,” the California solar company that went bankrupt in August 2011 after receiving a $550 million loan...

It's been a rough year for lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, but the Massachusetts company is forging ahead. This morning, it introduced a new battery technology it calls Nanophosphate EXT, which A123 says can operate at extreme temperatures without requiring the degree of heating or cooling...

It may be hard to imagine, but the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car is about to enter its third model year. The new 2013 Chevrolet Volt will offer a slightly higher all-electric range, up from 35 to 38 miles. Its base price of $39,995 will not change. Next year's Volt will also receive a...

It's been just over a week since I picked up my all-electric Renault Fluence ZE--one of 110 Better Place customers to do so during May, according to the company. I've now put on 430 all-electric miles in nine days of driving. I've charged the car predominantly at home, with a couple of extra...

There's kind of a running joke within the electric car world that the next generation of batteries is just a decade away. And the next time you ask, it's still a decade away. Even a decade later. Well, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the next generation of usable battery technology...

Last week, we shared with you our first-hand experience of driving an electric car through a Better Place battery swap station in Israel. Publicly, especially outside of Israel, Better Place’s concept of switching out depleted electric car battery packs for fully charged ones at its...

Electric-car infrastructure firm Better Place has spent the past few years creating some serious waves in the electric car world with grandiose claims that it can make electric cars as convenient to use as gasoline ones. Alongside its fully integrated smart-grid network of charging stations...

If you’ve followed electric cars for a while, you’ll probably be familiar with the concept of swapping out a depleted battery pack with a freshly-charged one in the same amount of time it takes to fill a car with gasoline. Better Place, the first company to try and commercialize that...