This just hit my email today, and adds to the discussion.
Dear Energizer Enthusiast,
Over the past year, we have heard evidence of vanadium's ability to be a battery "supercharger", with notable car and battery makers Subaru, Mitsubishi, BYD and GS Yuasa having announced development of vanadium-based battery technology.
The impact that vanadium-based battery technology can have to the ever-maturing EV market was clearly demonstrated when Germany's DBM Energy equipped an Audi A2 with its lithium-vanadium polymer battery and set a world distance record of 603 km on a single charge. Even more impressive was the company's claim that the battery could be re-charged in under 10 minutes using 240 volts of direct current.
DBM Energy is no longer alone.
Last week, Nissan announced it has developed a EV car charger that can charge the batteries needed by vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiEV in a record time of ten minutes. Nissan credits the breakthrough by using vanadium oxide and tungsten oxide in the electrode of the capacitor. The capacitor's anode, reportedly, uses graphite - a key component in the anode portion of many batteries, especially lithium.
Tests with the new charging station showed that the car batteries being charged maintained nearly the same storage capacity and voltage and endured repeated charging and discharging without durabiility issues. Researchers are now aiming to tweak the materials to bring down the charge time to three minutes or less.
Nissan's new vanadium-based car charger is nearly half the size than its previous car chargers and can charge vehicles from multiple automakers.
This breakthrough represents a huge leap forward in public acceptance of electric vehicles, which is mainly hindered by sluggish charge times. To fully charge an EV today it can take anywhere from eight to eighteen hours.
To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
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