A paradox of modern life is that as technology advances, our ability to accurately perceive the future diminishes. What technology will we be using in our everyday lives, and when? How will tomorrow's discoveries impact the future we understand today? And will we be able to afford the future when it gets here?
The lifestyles and driving habits of we Americans are inextricably intertwined, and one function of this blog is to highlight future automotive technologies. Most of us now realize our driving habits will change (after all, everything changes), but how? And what could be more iconic of the future of automotive engineering than the electric car?
But there's a problem. The lithium ion and nickel-metal hydride battery powerplants available today have a maximum cruising radius of about 50 miles, and nothing in the pipeline is promising a cruising radius of more than about 100 miles. So IBM Corporation is gathering the experts in the field of batteries/electrical storage technology with the goal of creating a battery technology which will yield a vehicle cruising radius of 500 miles. Keeping in mind that today's gas-powered vehicles have an average cruising radius of about 300 miles, this goal, when achieved, will boost the electric car into the mainstream of daily American life. Right?
The whole enterprise hinges on something called energy density - the amount of energy stored per kilogram of battery weight (measured in watt hours per kg). Factor in nanotubes and lithium/air proton harvesting, and it all begins to sound very - well, very futurish, even though the time frame for this project is only two to three years. But I'm already over my head here - to read a great article on the subject and view a five minute video on The Battery 500 Project, click here.
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