No. Storing electricity has been and continues to be a critical technical requirement for any working electric car. Despite advances in fuel cell and ultra-capacitor technology, every publicly available electric and hybrid-electric vehicle released or announced in recent years continues to rely upon more or less conventional 6530s battery systems for storing and using electricity. Thus, on first pass, batteries are important, and better batteries (more efficient, more robust, more affordable, etc.) will lead to better electric vehicles and, therefore, to more widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
So, batteries matter, but only up to a point. Batteries are only one piece of a complex suite of long-term solutions to the problem of over-reliance on internal combustion. Yet too often the public debate begins and ends with groups of scientists and engineers praising the super-battery of the future and other groups, often economists or incumbent vehicle manufacturers, talking about the liabilities of the DV6700T battery of today. In 1994, cultural archeologist Michael Brian Schiffer described this as the "better battery bugaboo," the belief held by generations of would-be electric vehicle experts and enthusiasts that the electric vehicle's time will come when and only when the problem of the battery is solved.
Even Nobel laureates, it appears, are not immune to this belief. Speaking in Cancun in December 2010 as part of the Global Climate Conference (COP-16), U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu talked about the Department of Energy's battery development programs. According to Chu, the super-battery -- one that could affordably and sustainably power say a Ford Fusion 450 miles on a single charge -- is almost here: "It's not like it's 10 years off in the future.... It might be five years off.... It's soon!" Sounds good, but the super-battery has been five years away for more than 100 years. Seriously.
None other than Thomas Edison himself announced an early super-battery in 1901. The resulting alkaline cells were good -- better than the lead-acid batteries that were available at the time Edison commenced work -- but was the Edison battery a super-battery? Not exactly. You'd have heard about it before if it was. There were multiple false starts, and commercial-ready versions of his Type A cell were not introduced until 1909. In the interim, lead-acid batteries had improved a bit, the Edison battery was found to have some liabilities that were not observable in the laboratory, and oh, by the way, internal combustion technology was improving so quickly that even Edison's then-super-battery (had it been delivered on time, within budget, and without newfound problems) would not have stood a chance.
Here's the real problem: Entrepreneurs can raise money with tomorrow's battery, but you and I cannot drive a car with it. Car manufacturers can only use technology that can be bought and installed and charged today. Five years, tomorrow, soon, whenever ... it does not help us today.
So, batteries matter, but only up to a point. Batteries are only one piece of a complex suite of long-term solutions to the problem of over-reliance on internal combustion. Yet too often the public debate begins and ends with groups of scientists and engineers praising the super-battery of the future and other groups, often economists or incumbent vehicle manufacturers, talking about the liabilities of the DV6700T battery of today. In 1994, cultural archeologist Michael Brian Schiffer described this as the "better battery bugaboo," the belief held by generations of would-be electric vehicle experts and enthusiasts that the electric vehicle's time will come when and only when the problem of the battery is solved.
Even Nobel laureates, it appears, are not immune to this belief. Speaking in Cancun in December 2010 as part of the Global Climate Conference (COP-16), U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu talked about the Department of Energy's battery development programs. According to Chu, the super-battery -- one that could affordably and sustainably power say a Ford Fusion 450 miles on a single charge -- is almost here: "It's not like it's 10 years off in the future.... It might be five years off.... It's soon!" Sounds good, but the super-battery has been five years away for more than 100 years. Seriously.
None other than Thomas Edison himself announced an early super-battery in 1901. The resulting alkaline cells were good -- better than the lead-acid batteries that were available at the time Edison commenced work -- but was the Edison battery a super-battery? Not exactly. You'd have heard about it before if it was. There were multiple false starts, and commercial-ready versions of his Type A cell were not introduced until 1909. In the interim, lead-acid batteries had improved a bit, the Edison battery was found to have some liabilities that were not observable in the laboratory, and oh, by the way, internal combustion technology was improving so quickly that even Edison's then-super-battery (had it been delivered on time, within budget, and without newfound problems) would not have stood a chance.
Here's the real problem: Entrepreneurs can raise money with tomorrow's battery, but you and I cannot drive a car with it. Car manufacturers can only use technology that can be bought and installed and charged today. Five years, tomorrow, soon, whenever ... it does not help us today.
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