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Lithium-Ion Battery Pack

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Batteries today are omnipresent today that they are invisible to us. Running in cars, digital cameras, drones, bulbs, mechanical tools, inverters, ships, trains, airplanes, windmills and even in satellites. The basic science behind the battery is chemical energy converting to electrical energy containing three main components: Anode, Cathode, and Electrolyte. The revolution in the battery over the years are through several stages of chemical combinations and implementations. Starting from Voltaic Pile to Daniell Cell, then from Lead-Acid to Nickel Cadmium battery, further evolving to Alkaline Battery, Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and then finally to Lithium-ion battery. These are available in all shapes and sizes as per the need along with its possibly packed power capacity.

Working: The Lithium-ion battery pack consist of graphite, oxygen, metal, and of course lithium, which runs in a cycle of discharging and charging. While producing energy, the lithium moves back to the positive cathode across the electrolyte, and while charging, the ions move to the positive anode. This cycle repeats over the course of time and degrades the potency of the ions in providing the electric charge. The lithium-ion has 250Wh/kg (Watt-hours per kilogram) of energy while NiMH has mere 90Wh/kg. This is a vast difference for a small, portable and noiseless rechargeable battery.

Concern Parameters: The 10 parameters that a Lithium-ion battery pack’s development covers are high specific energy, specific power, affordable cost, longer life, better safety, wide temperature operating range, non-toxic, fast charging, lower self-discharge and longer shelf life. In the early stages, the cost of a Li-ion battery was $3000 per kWh, while Lead-acid battery cost $150 per kWh. But over the years, due to multiple benefits of Li-ion battery pack, being 150Wh/kg more than the NiMH, the cost is dramatically falling costing now $150 to $240 per kWh. Tesla’s goal is to reach $100 per kWh on lithium-ion battery packs for the cars.

NEW ERA: In 2005, there was a total of around $4900mil in the sales of lithium-ion batteries while in 2015 it is spiked to $15200mil wherein $4800mil is in automotive alone. It is expected to reach 10% on the total number of cars on the road to be battery EVs by 2020 from 0.3% today and to 35% by 2035. There is an even higher growth rate in China, Europe, and Japan when compared to the US. Statistically consuming 1900TWh for Li-ion battery pack by 2035, which is equivalent to power the whole of US for 160days.

FUTURE: There is still a lot to develop the battery technology as over the years we haven’t come up with anything further than lithium-ion battery packs configured in parallel or series to deliver the desired voltage, power density, and capacity. We sure have changed the contents and the proportion of the combination of raw materials to enhance the capabilities, but there is still a lot of work that has to be put into the battery technology. The targets are to reach over 700Wh/kg to that of 400Wh/kg we are on today. By 2020, 75% of batteries are expected to contain cobalt, in some capacity at least along with better anodes and enhancing electrolytes.

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Source by Shalini Madhav

Electric Vehicle Challenges For Wide Adoption

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It is fun to watch a Tesla Car glide down the road and know that it is all-electric, still, the industry has a ways to go before electric cars can compete on price for the consumer – before wide adoption is fully feasible. Trust me when I tell you, I am not against EVs, it’s just I see so many challenges – cost, weight, subsidies, efficiencies, range, charging infrastructure, etc. And, I cringe when I listen to folks explain how to pave that proverbial ‘road to hell’ with the Good Intentions Paving Company LLC. Okay so, let’s talk shall we?

Here are a Five Points on the Future of Electric Vehicles and the Real Challenges Facing the Industry:

1). Current Battery Weight: EV batteries significantly increase the weight of cars – proponents say that’s okay because new lightweight materials will keep weight down. True, but if those lightweight materials can do that, they can do it also for gasoline, diesel, natural gas, hydrogen or steam run cars too. Meaning more competition, A 100 mpg car due to low weight is now a huge selling point.

2). End of Life Battery Disposal: Where do all these batteries go with chemicals that are not so good for environment? Proponents say; it’s not that big of deal. Still, if old cell phones are considered hazardous waste partly due to the batteries inside, then car batteries which are much bigger with huge amounts of material are even more problematic.

3). Slow Growth: Currently electric vehicles make us such a small percentage of the total, that they are not making any real difference in the use of fossil fuels, so if that is the goal, it will take decades to achieve and need massive government intervention – hasn’t government intervened in the free-markets enough lately (Healthcare, Biofuels for instance) and how has that worked out for us?

4). Electric Vehicle Rebates: When government gives rebates we all end up paying for it in higher taxes. If EVs cost on average $10,000 more, and we give rebates, we are subsidizing a sector over another sector, picking and choosing winners. It’s wiser to allow EV industry to pony up and find ways to lower prices to compete.

5). Electric Vehicles Are Quiet: Proponents say that’s a good thing. But, tell that to the kid or cyclist that didn’t hear them coming and got smushed. Some EVs now have “sound” to alert people they are coming, and you can choose the sound you like, several options. That’s nice, but defeats the concept and/or benefits of such serenity associated with EVs. Sound also takes energy to make, ask any audio installer of sound systems for cars, often a second battery or batteries is/are added for larger systems.

The electric vehicle industry will have to solve these challenges before consumers will have full buy-in or before EVs can supplant the cars we drive today. Please consider this.

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Source by Lance Winslow

Moving Tips

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Provide your new address to friends and family and the date on which you will already be installed.

Notifies the change of address to banks and shops where you have accounts to send correspondence to the new place.

Insurance company. If you have home insurance, you must perform a new policy, according to the new house and its location. Just as life insurance, automobile, and so on.

Canceled hiring utilities (electricity, water, gas, telephone). We must cancel the current service delivery and hire new housing. If deposits existed for contract services, we must demand repayment.

Medical services. When changing city, it is advisable to ask for referrals to the doctor and dentist also transfer prescriptions, optical and others. You also need to obtain medical records and birth certificates.

Make sure that the new housing is in a position for comfortable use. Performing preventive maintenance of pipes, electrical installations and others.

At home, carefully clean up the refrigerator and will be sure not to transport foods that are not able. The same we do with the kitchen and air-conditioners, extractors and others.

Carpets and clothes should be clean before packing.

After the loading of the goods, it should make a tour of the house, to make sure that we leave nothing forgotten.

Make your reservations for movers two to four weeks before your move day.

For large appliances be sure to check your owner’s manuals to see if there are special instructions for moving.

Don’t try to get rid of your children’s favorite things before the move – even if it makes it easier. Kids sometimes have a hard time dealing with the change of the move itself.

By law, a moving company can’t transport hazardous materials such as gasoline, bottled gases and other flammables, ammunition and explosives.

Pack a box of essential items that you will need immediately after the move and make sure it’s the last thing added to the truck.

Clean out closets, the attic, and the basement as soon as you decide it’s time to move.

Make a “survival closet” of things for the last cleanup before you move out – broom, dust cloth, dust pan, mop.

Remember to get snacks for move day.

Schedule disconnect times for about a week before your move day — you don’t want to have to pay for cable, phone and utilities when you aren’t even there!

Cancel newspapers, cable, pest control, cleaning help, lawn services about a week before the move.

Mail in your change of address forms about week before your move date.

Clean your stove before you move out.

The day before your move, defrost the fridge.

Make sure to get enough cash to get you through move day.

Take time to say goodbye to friends and neighbors before your busy move day.

If you are depending on friends and family to help you move, have a back-up plan if they don’t show.

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Source by Silvina Marquez

Truckers Need Commercial Truck Insurance

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If you are driving a commercial vehicle, especially a semi-truck, then you need commercial truck insurance to protect yourself and your rig from personal injury attorneys and lawsuit. This also applies to business owners who own a vehicle that is rented, leased, or used by more than one person.

Generally, most policies will cover your medical bills and expenses, should you get in a wreck. This is not to be underestimated with the current price of healthcare and the grave nature of most automobile accidents when traveling even at a minimal speed.

Your policy should cover underinsured and uninsured motorists. If you get in a wreck and the party at fault has no insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover the damages done to you or your truck, then your insurance company should be there to cover the rest.

It should also cover your motor cargo. This aspect is extremely important if you are transporting something that is highly valuable. This could be just about anything, but you do not want to be on the hook for the price of your cargo due to an auto accident.

Make sure your commercial truck insurance covers you on bodily injury, property damage, and liability. If you are not covered by an insurance company, you could be taken to court and forced to pay the damages or medical bills out of your own pocket.

Do not forget to ensure that you have automotive damage insurance by way of collision, theft, fire, or other type of damage to the vehicle. Besides medical bills, auto repairs are probably the second most expensive thing that insurance can cover for you. Do not get stuck paying for repairs to your rig out of your own pocket and make sure your policy has you covered.

There are plenty of standard options as well as customizable policies. Let's look at some of the standard packages. Business interruption coverage will protect you or your company from lost wages after a covered loss.

Umbrella coverage provides the customer with a much higher liability limit than your average primary commercial truck insurance policies.

Tool and equipment coverage will protect your tools and equipment that are stored in company vehicles. This goes hand in hand with cargo insurance, which makes sure that your manifest is insured in transport or in storage, so you can rest assured that your product is safe.

Driving without insurance is illegal in the United States, and driving a commercial truck without commercial truck insurance is just stupid. Keep yourself protected and get in touch with your local insurance agent.

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Source by Aaliyah Arthur