They are also far more durable, lasting several times longer than “normal” Lith-poly batteries, and can be charged to 75-85% in 10-20 minutes.

Iron Phosphate, Not to be confused with phosphorus, is extremely stable. They produce very little heat when fast or slow charging or subjected to hard discharges. More importantly they make no Oxygen. The Trinity of Fire says you have to have Fuel, Heat and Oxygen. Iron Phosphate batteries again, produce very little heat and no oxygen.

Jonmiles,

The aggravating part of this is not that AMERICA does not have the technology, it is that AMERICA basically does NOT have the infrastructure to product the technology domestically in anywhere near sufficient quantity. It was sold off like our solar and wind industries. The people who owned it thought only of the money they would make then instead of now.

The guy’s in the body shop next door send photos to Exotic Wrecks on the Prius that they had, the one with the busted battery pack.T the salvage yard that picked it up needed to have the Fire Dept. Haz-Mat team put another diaper on the wrecked, and they had to put Haz-mat stickers all over the junk, don’t know what they are going to do with it, but all that just makes you wonder. Don’t know if they will post the photo, it more the big show they made not to spill nor breath the acid…

The Mecedes rip-off has leather rear seats, a dardened glass roof, steering wheel that is lightsome to the the touch, a dash board

Screw Chinese batteries.
BYD = Batteries You’ll Detest

They are more expensive, but they withstand 2,000 charge cycles before significant degredation in capacity, while traditional Lipo cells only last 1,000 cycles.

They could be shaped into flat pack like LiPo cells, but A123 has been concentrating on cylinders so far.

GM actually did consider this tech. GM picked two competitors for the Volt project, LG Chem and A123 Systems. They recently announced LG Chem was awarded the contract. According to GM, LG Chem was the logical choice because they are a much larger company compared to A123, and are already set up to produce flat packs. GM also did not want to risk going with a small company on a project like this.

Another key benifit that A123 and other LiFePO4 cells, have over LiPo cells is durability. If you punture a normal LiPo cell it burns rapidly on contact with air. This can happen by charging/discharging too fast (the cell swells and sometimes bursts), or by physically rupturing the casing (like from a violent auto accident).

Try Googling LiPo fire. After you watch some videos, you’ll understand why these companies spend so much time testing the batteries and charging systems.

It’s not really new technology. This LiFePO4 battery chemistry was originally developed at the University of Texas in 1996, and later perfected by researchers at MIT. This fast charge capability has been commercially available in Dewalt Lithium Iron packs for a few years.

A123 systems (the company GM did not choose for the Volt) actually has a version (M1 ultra) that can achieve 90% charge in 5 minutes. This fast charge ability also allows the cells to discharge at an extremely high rate without catastrophic failure.

Currently the worlds fastest electric vehicle is a drag motorcycle. As of october 23rd 2008 it has acheived a best run of 7.955 seconds at 174.05 mph. This bike uses A123 systems version of this supposed new technology.

Check out the video at “killacycle dot com”

And for Rick Wagoner, look what the chinos are doing… god damn you Rick

They could make much money in partnering in an outside source and produce these rapid-charging EVs here. That’s one idea.

-eat your cereal

The other issue is that BYD’s other car is just a re-tinselled last-gen Corolla.

And while the designs may either be familiar or modern-looking originals, crash safety is still a HUGE concern along with refinement.

I’d much rather invest my money in a name-brand vehicle with the same tech. Not a tin Chinese accordion-on-wheels with a melamine air freshener.

Electricity, once you know its fairly simple rules, is actually easier to work with than an ICE.

But until otherwise noted, China can keep their cars. The Tech I’d gladly like a look at, but the cars can stay in China.