Energy Storage; Battery news
As battery manufacturer GS Yuasa Corp battles to deal with the overheating of its batteries in the grounded Boeings 787s, other incidents were reported at the Kyoto based company. On a more positive note, a new startup Aquion Energy has funded the first phase of its new cheap and ‘safe’ electrochemical storage solution, the Hybrid Ion battery√جª¬ø
Litihium- ion battery fire
Two more faulty batteries have been reported in testing by the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation factory in Japan. One caught fire while being tested, and another melted in an electric car reports Bloomberg Businessweek [March 29 2113].
GS Yuasa Corp has seen sharp falls in it’s share price after concerns over the plan to make automative lithium-ion batteries a key business. The company formed ventures with Mitsubishi Motors and Honda Motor Co, to a range of EV’s including the Honda Civic HV, Accord PHEV, and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the i-MiEV.
The batteries that caught fire were made by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture with the manufacturers, separate from the factory where the Boeing 787 batteries were made. The company was founded after a merger between Yuasa Corp and Japan Storage Battery Co in 2004, and is the largest supplier of motorcycle batteries in the world. It is believed that the fire may have been caused by contamination following alteration of a production line, causing a short circuit.
Mitsubishi Motors asked customers on 27th March not to charge the plug in hybrid Outlander vehicle externally until the cause of the problem has been identified.
Aquion Energy obtains further funding of $35m
Greentechgrid has reported that Bill Gates has joined other investors Bright Capital, Gentry Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Foundation Capital and Advanced Technology Ventures to fund the development of Aquion’s new electrochemical storage solution.
The new battery has an anode made of activated carbon, a cathode made from sodium and magnesium oxide and a water based electrolyte. These are utility scale applications, and look to provide two to six hours of storage over 5,000+ charging cycles. The aim is to create a low cost, high performance market product. Other new entry firms are looking at compressed air, flow batteries and one firm, Stern is looking at a cloud based energy optimisation solution that reduces peak electrical usage to lower electricity bills and eliminates the need for new generation facilities.
Originally posted 2013-04-09 00:00:00.
