By Adam Shake •
April 14, 2009
There is a lot of talk within the Electric Vehicle community about the Chevy Volt, but sometimes the headlines can overpower news of other EVs, like the BYD F3DM.
The BYD F3DM is one such case. Made and sold in China, it’s been called a Volt copycat, but it doesn’t seem to have the same following as its American counterpart.
News has recently come out that the BYD makes its own proprietary LiFePO4 battery and can sell the car for a US equivalent of $22,000. Warren Buffett has invested in the company and the potential exists to eventually sell the car in the US.
By Andrew Williams •
March 12, 2009
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed battery cells capable of charging in under a minute, an astonishing 100 times faster than a regular rechargable battery.
The breakthrough could revolutionize electric car battery technology and pave the way for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles in as little as two years.
The discovery came when MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder found out how to get a common lithium compound to release and take up lithium ions in a matter of seconds. According to Ceder, the compound, known as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), has a crystal structure that creates “perfectly sized tunnels for lithium to move through,” allowing the team to reach “ridiculously fast charging rates.”
