DOE'S NEAR-TERM ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY PROGRAM. STATUS OF IMPROVED LEAD-ACID, NICKEL/IRON, AND NICKEL/ZINC BATTERY DEVELOPMENTS

From the inception of the DOE/ANL Near-Term eV Battery Program in 1978, significant progress in lead-acid, nickel/iron and nickel/zinc battery technology has been made towards achieving the technical performance goals necessary for widespread use of these battery systems in electric vehicle applications. The energy density of lead-acid eV batteries has advanced from 25 to 30 Wh/kg to over 40 Wh/kg. The prospect for obtaining a lead-acid battery having both high energy density and long cycle life in a few years is very promising. Nickel/iron modules have demonstrated a specific energy of nearly 50 Wh/kg and a specific power of 100 W/kg, cycle lives of 300 have been achieved during early 1980 and testing continues, and the energy efficiency has been improved from less than 50% to over 65%. Nickel/zinc module test data have shown a specific energy of nearly 70 Wh/kg and a specific power of 130 W/kg. However, cycle life improvements are still needed. Cost reduction continues to receive major emphasis at developers of both nickel/zinc and nickel/iron batteries. Based on the continued demonstration of viable solutions to technical problems in the 1980 to 1983 time-frame, these near-term batteries will emerge as contenders for electric vehicle applications. The relative cost/performance/life tradeoff of these battery systems continues to receive emphasis in the DOE/ANL R and D Program. While it would be premature at the present time to select winning systems or specific technical approaches, it is the intent of the DOE/ANL program management to continue supporting the development of the most viable approaches in response to the 1986 commercialization goal. (ERA citation 06:017065)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • International Electric Vehicle Exposition and Conference, St. Louis, MO, USA, May 1980.
• Corporate Authors:

  Argonne National Laboratory

  9700 South Cass Avenue
  Argonne, IL  United States  60439

  Department of Energy

  1000 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20585
• Authors:
  • Yao, N P
  • Christianson, C C
  • Elliott, R C
  • Lee, T S
  • Miller, J F
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Pagination: 48 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acids; Alternatives analysis; Costs; Development; Electric batteries; Electric vehicles; Iron; Lead (Metal); Lead acid batteries; New products; Nickel; Nickel iron batteries; Nickel zinc batteries; Performance; Production; Research; Research projects; Service life; Zinc
• Uncontrolled Terms: Commercialization; Experimental data; Mass production; Research and development; Research programs
• Old TRIS Terms: Iron-nickel batteries
• Subject Areas: Design; Energy; Finance; Highways; Research; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00338110
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Contract Numbers: W-31-109-ENG-38
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 16 1981 12:00AM