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from the cars-start-on-fire-all-the-time-anyway dept.
Samsung has announced a new battery cell for electric vehicles that could enable 20 minute fast charging. The company plans to get that time down to 5 to 10 minutes:
Samsung's SDI battery subsidiary announced a new battery cell designed for use in electric vehicles that offers improved density to manage a max range of up to 372 miles on a full charge, with a quick charge capacity that will help it regain 310 miles or so of charge on just 20 minutes of charging. Unveiled at the North American International Auto Show for the first time, the new battery tech come with a 10 percent decrease in the number of units and weight required vs. current production battery units made by Samsung SDI.
Mass production isn't set to begin until 2021, but the tech should arrive in time to supply the first crop of autonomous cars, which are also targeting street dates sometime within that year from a range of manufacturers. EV and self-driving are tied closely to one another, since both are crucial components for operating the kind of on-demand ride-sharing fleets planned by Ford, among others.
Also at Engadget. Press release at Business Wire.
Samsung's SDI division is the same company that made the batteries used in the Galaxy Note 7 as well as the upcoming Galaxy S8. Samsung will reportedly reveal the cause of the Galaxy Note 7 overheating issues later this month, but the batteries are not expected to be the culprit.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday January 11 2017, @06:02PM
> Tesla is already hinting at chargers that put out over 350kW.
It's a good thing that they also sell home batteries, since the copper under the street isn't going to agree with me pulling even a tenth of that for more than a second or two.
It would be a nice experiment to see which cable or transformer would give up the ghost first.
I don't want to know how much it would cost to get 350kW service to my garage.
The best avenue for fast charging for cars is still fast battery swaps at special centers. Pay for a battery "rent", swap them anytime for a charged one (much harder to do if you own). Too bad the experiment in France failed...
(Score: 1) by NewNic on Wednesday January 11 2017, @06:33PM
They are not going to be putting these types of chargers in typical houses. You only need overnight charging capability at home.
Battery swapping is a pipe dream and would retard progress (battery development would be slowed down by the need to have standard batteries). Battery swapping isn't going to make an order of magnitude difference to the electricity demands form a busy charging station. Those swapped batteries still need to be charged.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday January 11 2017, @06:54PM
> You only need overnight charging capability at home.
I'm pretty sure that the same people who can't imagine only having 200 miles will chime in with use cases requiring quick home charging.
#NeverWithoutMyFreedomToDriveNow /s /s
> Battery swapping isn't going to make an order of magnitude difference to the electricity demands form a busy charging station.
> Those swapped batteries still need to be charged.
It changes when and how fast you need to charge them.
I know it's not going to happen on US long-range cars. But it can work for short-range convenience fleets (batteries that don't fill every last cubic inch) or citi buses with a regular service loop. It can, but nobody's going to pony up the money, so it likely won't.
> battery development would be slowed down by the need to have standard batteries
You could convince some people to trade off a few km of range for the convenience of having smaller charge modules that slide in and out easily. Bigger cars have more modules. The custom batteries will always be better, but the replaceable ones being much cheaper and more available has proven to work for many applications.
After the AA, AAA, D-cells (LR6, LR3...), why not the same for big-boys' cars?