Sanyo Electric Shows Off Solar Electric Truck and Hybrid Electric Bicycle

Sanyo Electric Company is showing two electric vehicles at Japan's largest environmental exhibition, "Eco-Products 2009," in Tokyo which is organized by Japan Environmental Management Association and Industry Association, Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The truck  is able to run up to a 130km after 16 hours of direct solar charging, or may be charged directly with AC power in half the time.

Sanyo products have received International CES Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Awards. The Sanyo “Synergetic Hybrid Bicycle”, CY-SPA600NA, model of the eneloop bike, a pedal-assist electric hybrid, was honored as Best of Innovations having received the highest overall score in the Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology category. The high-definition waterproof Dual Camera Xacti, VPC-WH1, was selected as an honoree in the Digital Imaging category.

Sanyo, as a “Leading Company for Energy and Environment” has created a number of products that are designed with the intent of promoting sustainable technology, based on its brand vision “Think GAIA”. The eneloop bike embodies Sanyo’s strengths, combining both its rechargeable battery and battery systems’ technologies with its concept of preserving and promoting a sustainable environment, whether at work or leisure.

 

The eneloop bike “Synergetic Hybrid Bicycle” model is a part of the Sanyo ‘eneloop universe’, a series of products that are based on the concept of reusing resources such as “energy” by “looping” it in a sustainable cycle. The concept was first shown as Sanyo announced the ‘eneloop’ rechargeable battery in 2005 and has grown to include a number of award-winning products.

Now in its 33rd year, the CES Innovations Awards gives consumer technology manufacturers and developers an opportunity to have their newest products judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, engineers and journalists.

The Sanyo eneloop bike is a 26-inch, three-speed regenerative, pedal-assist hybrid electric bicycle. As such, riders can propel the eneloop bike under their own power or can engage the bike’s motor and electrical system to pedal in one of three assist modes – standard, power-up or auto – where the front hub-based motor helps the bicycle and rider travel forward.

It employs a unique Torque-sensing Power Management Controller within the regenerative electrical system. The bicycle automatically adjusts to differences in terrain uphill/downhill slopes, applying the perfect amount of assisted power when needed and engaging the regenerative properties of the “energy looping” (ene+loop) eneloop “Loop Charging” system when coasting or braking. As a result, eneloop bike owners can ride further and longer than traditional pedal-assist systems.

Panasonic recently received regulatory approval of it's $4.6 billion plan to purchase Sanyo Electric, which is a leading battery maker.   Panasonic's president of the battery division Naoto Noguchi said, "Panasonic Corp. is in discussions with some 10 automakers to supply lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicle."

Discussions with vehicle manufacturers include companies from India, Europe, Japan, and the U.S. Panasonic plans to invest $1.4 billion to triple their lithium-ion battery output by late 2011 and believes that the hybrid electric and all electric vehicle battery market will grow to five times its current size by 2018.

Noguchi warned of possible battery shortages, saying "If demand continues to grow, we have concerns that production capacity might be insufficient, an increase in Japanese electric cars could make supply an issue by as early as 2012."

Panasonic has received approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allowing the deal with Sanyo to proceed.  The company received full antitrust clearance in 11 countries.  The deal between Panasonic and Sanyo could make Panasonic the largest battery producer in the world.

 

Globally Civilian Security Expenditures to Reach $518 Billion in 2015 says ITRI President

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) President Dr. Johnsee Lee said that the world has seen frequent acts of terrorism since the 911 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the importance of security speaks for itself. Security and protection remain a basic requirement for nations and individuals despite the weak economic climate. Take the United States for instance, Dr. Lee said. The domestic security market there grew to $193.3 billion in 2005 from $59.3 billion in 2002. Of this, $67.4 billion was spent on surveillance and access control and $65.0 billion on bio anti-terrorism systems. Meanwhile, rapid growth is also being seen in information and network security systems. It is expected that global security expenditures (not including national defense) will soar to $518.0 billion by 2015.

Dr. Lee furthermore pointed out that Taiwan has long been a global hub for the production of surveillance equipment. To this point, most related items produced here have been on a contract manufacturing basis and are low added-value items. By integrating software and hardware, the industry will see a higher output value and added-value, he said. However, a high technology threshold exists in terms of producing integrated securities systems. Up to now, Taiwan has generally focused on the production of components, with small- and medium-sized firms responsible for the bulk of manufacturing. As a result, local firms have been unable to secure business for higher-end integrated systems.

It is with this background that ITRI and Telcordia are embarking on cooperation. It is hoped that Telcordia’s wealth of experience and technological expertise in the area of systems integration can be successfully combined with Taiwan’s competitive edge in IC/ICT product design and manufacturing, thereby jointly developing smart security systems. In the future, products will carry and be internationally distributed using the Telcordia brand name.

ITRI on March 4, 2009 signed a memorandum of cooperation with Telcordia Technologies, one of America’s foremost telecommunications R&D companies, to help pave the way to enhance Taiwan’s international competitiveness in this sector. In the future, the two sides will cooperate in the development of smart security systems, with a goal of grabbing a share of the global market for these systems.

ITRI’s Identification and Security Technology Center (ISTC) General Director-Tarng Jenn-Hwan said the cooperation between ITRI and Telcordia will focus primarily on the development of telecommunications and smart security and surveillance systems. ITRI hopes to take advantage of Telcordia’s wealth of experience and technology in communications, information and systems integration. Meanwhile, ITRI will introduce operation support systems, as well as scalable, reliable and secured system software technology. 

The joint initiative will foster a world-class security system development platform, which will provide the foundation to develop state-of-the-art and internationally competitive smart security systems. The platform will also prove useful in integrating “smart end points” developed by ISTC, which will aid in the development of state-of-the-art smart security and surveillance systems that are real-time and are able to act based on various scenarios. 

These “smart end points” offer the ability for the devices to independently judge potential emergency events and then to react accordingly. Camera imagery will be processed in an intelligent manner by the system, thereby avoiding the transfer of large amounts of unnecessary images to the end point. Surveillance personnel with then take the appropriate action. The system will effectively reduce the amount of manpower required to monitor the system, time, and costs associated with having to transmit and store large amounts of data.

ITRI selected Telcordia as its cooperative partner in the R&D of intelligent security systems with the hope of upgrading Taiwan’s security and surveillance industry from being a components manufacturer to a provider of smart end points and secondary systems. This will provide the foundation for the innovation of new products on Taiwan and result in new opportunities. In addition, Telcordia’s marketing channels will assist Taiwan manufacturers in gaining a foothold in the high-end securities systems marketplace, thereby creating a new Blue Ocean for the security industry.

Nanotechnology plays a growing role in developing products for security applications.

ITRI won a "2009 R&D 100 Award in Energy Devices" in November for developing STOBA (self-terminated oligomers with hyper-branched architecture), the first technology to enhance the safety of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.  Dr. Alex Peng, senior research scientist and deputy general director at ITRI's Material and Chemical Research Laboratories (MCL) said that "During the past five years, the STOBA team worked diligently to develop this technology. They have truly earned this achievement."

Li-ion batteries, the power source for many consumer electronic devices, including cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, cameras, and hybrid and electric cars, are susceptible to overheating, which can cause fires and explosions. In the past, safety standards for Li-ion batteries could not be raised because there was no solution available.

To meet the growing demand for high-safety lithium batteries, ITRI successfully developed STOBA, which has fundamentally resolved the safety issue. By integrating a nano-grade high-molecular polymer, which forms a protective film, into the Li-ion battery, a locking effect is generated when the battery encounters excessive heat, external impact or piercing and interrupts the electrical and chemical action, preventing explosions. In 2008 and 2009, STOBA passed the mandatory shorting and piercing experiments conducted by battery manufacturers in Japan and Taiwan. These intensive nail penetration and impact tests confirmed STOBA's effectiveness in preventing internal shorting and overheating in Li-ion batteries.

3M Innovative Properties Discloses Negative Electrode Nano-Compositions for Lithium-Ion Batteries

3M Innovative Properties Company scientists Jeffrey R Dahn, Jing Li and Mark N Obrovac reveal negative electrode nano-compositions for lithium-ion electrochemical cells that include metal oxides and polymeric binders in  U.S. Patent Application 20090297948. Also provided in the patent application are electrochemical cells and battery packs that include electrodes made with these compositions. Crystalline, non-intercalating metal oxides transformed to a composite of nano-sized metal grains and nano-sized Li2O grains during lithium insertion are a key material for increasing the useful life of a lithium battery.

The use of the 3M negative electrode materials and electrodes, electrochemical cells, and battery packs made from them can provide reduced irreversible capacity and fade. The irreversible first cycle capacity loss in these electrodes can be significantly decreased by forming the electrode using 3M’s binders. The provided binders can be used to prepare electrodes and cells that exhibit decreased first cycle irreversible capacity loss compared to electrodes or cells made with conventional polymeric binders.

Polymers, such as polyvinylidene fluoride, have been used as binders for metal, metal alloy, metal oxide and graphite-based lithium-ion cell electrodes. However, the first cycle irreversible capacity loss in the resulting cells can be unacceptably large, e.g., as large as 300 mAh/g or more for an electrode based on a powdered metal oxide material. In addition the capacity loss may be unacceptably large, e.g. as large as 70% capacity loss or more in 50 cycles for an electrode based on a powdered metal oxide material.  3M’s materials reduce capacity loss due to battery cycling.

The negative electrode composition includes a powdered material and a polymeric binder, wherein the powdered material includes a non-intercalating metal oxide. The metal oxide is capable of undergoing lithiation and delithiation.  The polymeric binder includes at least one of a polyacrylic acid, a lithium polyacrylate, or a polyimide. The electrode compositions include a non-intercalating metal oxide. A non-intercalating metal oxide is a metal oxide into which lithium can be reversibly inserted and extracted electrochemically at room temperature and during this process the structure of the material is substantially changed. That is, the atomic structure of the metal oxide-containing material before lithium insertion and during lithium insertion is different.

Crystalline, non-intercalating metal oxides can be transformed to a composite of nano-sized metal grains and nano-sized Li2O grains during lithium insertion. Examples of useful non-intercalating metal oxide materials include Fe2O3, CoO, Co3O4, NiO, CuO, MnO, and LiFeO2. The electrode composition can also include at least one of an oxide of titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, molybdenum, niobium, or tungsten.

CFD Research Grant for Novel Nanostructured Anode Materials For Thermal Batteries With Enhanced Electronic Conductivity

Available thermal battery technologies cannot meet future requirements that call for higher power and capacity with a smaller footprint. CFD Research Corp.(Huntsville, AL) received $69,969 in a U.S. Recovery Act Grant to develop (design, fabricate, test and demonstrate) novel  for thermal batteries with enhanced electronic conductivity and Li+ storage capacity. Computational models will be used to optimize technology concepts, and samples of the novel materials will be synthesized, tested and characterized. Materials, chemistries and synthesis processes and techniques will be optimized to maximize performance with improved manufacturability. Test cells containing the novel electrode materials will developed and battery testing will be carried out.

The major outcome of Phase II of the project will be a high power and capacity anode material for thermal batteries. Among DoD needs, the developed technology will find ready applicability the U.S. Army missile systems, including legacy and emerging programs. In addition, the technology will be aggressively marketed to other government agencies and industries such as aviation, agriculture, health care, etc. Deliverables of the effort include novel electrode materials, chemistries and synthesis processes, as well as test cell design and performance data.

ADA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. to Develop Nanotechnology-Enabled Advanced Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Transportation

 Ada Technologies, Inc (Littleton, CO) received a $499,830 award  funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II research project proposes to develop nanotechnology-enabled advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric transportation applications. 

While lithium-ion batteries represent the current state-of-the-art for rechargeable batteries, performance of current lithium-ion battery designs is limited by the properties of both electrodes and electrolytes. The proposed research combines nanostructured electrodes with environmentally benign electrolytes to develop high-performance, safe, and long lifespan lithium-ion batteries. The proposed research will optimize nanostructured electrodes, produce the electrodes in large scale, and fabricate and evaluate packaged prototype batteries. A team capable of fabricating, evaluating, and commercializing these batteries for electric transportation applications has been assembled.

The broader impact of this research is to improve the functionality and marketability of advanced electric transportation applications such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and Electric Vehicles (EVs). The proposed batteries will significantly benefit electric vehicle applications by decreasing harmful emissions, achieving better fuel economy, and reducing our nation's reliance on foreign petroleum sources. More broadly, they will also benefit a wide range of applications including consumer electronics, medical electronics, electric utility industries, and military and defense systems.

The technology under development in this project will enable the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that will offer superior performance and reduced environmental concerns. In addition to lithium-ion batteries, nanostructured materials demonstrated in this project will have a broad impact on other electronic and electrochemical devices.