Well, with a few exceptions maybe:
http://www.ovonic.com/al_alliances_licensees_battery.cfmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Aura#Aura_Green_Linehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Malibu#Sixth_Generation_2008-futurehttp://www.designnews.com/blog/1100000110/post/1000025700.html?nid=3225Monday, April 28, 2008
The Mythical Battery In The Basement
Apr 28 2008 5:00PM
At a recent social gathering, a lawyer told me the “truth” about electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
“A friend of mine knows someone at Google, and he said that General Motors could build great electric cars right now if it wanted to,” he said. “The battery technology is ready. The problem is GM is in bed with the oil companies.”
Ah, yes, the old auto-industry-in-bed-with-the-oil-companies conspiracy theory. Twenty years ago, we kept hearing about the 200-mile-per-gallon carburetor. Now it’s the killer battery.
The amazing thing about this bit of technological folklore is that it lives on, even among engineers. Over the past 10 years, I’ve received countless e-mails from readers who are convinced there’s a battery in a basement (usually at GM), wrapped in oily rags, hidden on a shelf somewhere. The battery is a veritable powerhouse, capable of propelling a truck for 400 miles on a 15-minute recharge. But the evil scientists at GM are rubbing their hands together and twitching with delight while they take payoffs from the oil companies for hiding it. It’s reminiscent of the final scene in the movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” in which the government hides the Ark of the Covenant in a non-descript wooden crate in an unnamed warehouse somewhere.
It is, of course, a great yarn. And it lives on because so many people at cocktail parties believe it and nod their heads knowingly. GM, after all, must be in bed with the oil companies, as well as with J. Edgar Hoover and Darth Vader.
...http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/07/toyota-to-boost.htmlToyota To Boost JV Output Capacity For NiMH Batteries By 50%
14 July 2007
The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor plans to build a new factory on the site of Panasonic EV Energy Co—its battery joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.—to boost the annual production capacity for NiMH cells used in the automaker’s hybrid vehicles by 50%.
The new plant will increase the output capacity of Shizuoka Prefecture-based Panasonic EV Energy Co. to a level sufficient to produce NiMH battery packs for 750,000 vehicles per year.
Panasonic EV Energy will also manufacture lithium-ion batteries for future Toyota hybrids.http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4227944.html2009 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Prototype: Tokyo Test Drive
Published on: October 22, 2007
TOKYO — Toyota may be the first to market with a plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) vehicle. Today, we were briefed on Toyota’s future hybrid and alternative fuel plans. And while there was no official announcement by Yoshitaka Asakura, Project General Manager of Toyota’s Hybrid Vehicle System Engineering Development Division, he mentioned that their plug-in development program was under way and that it may not wait for lithium-ion battery technology to mature.
"Toyota has the knowledge and experience with nickel metal hydride. And we have to use the battery we know best, in terms of overall performance," said Asakura.
Toyota is using their proven nickel-metal hydride (NiMh) battery packs in prototype Prius PHEV’s which we had an opportunity to drive at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center about 45 minutes (by train) outside Tokyo. The prototype PHEV’s use two current generation Prius battery packs sandwiched together with the charging system in-between. The packs are modified to deliver a greater ability to charge and discharge. This is, according to Asakura, so that they can get an accurate representation of how the more energy dense lithium ion pack will perform in production vehicles. In all likelihood, the first of those vehicles will be the next generation Prius. The prototype battery system weighs about 220 lbs. more than the current production Prius pack and intrudes into the trunk so that that’s there’s only room for about two medium size suitcases. A lithium ion pack would be much smaller and lighter—about the size of today’s production battery pack.
Asakura said the prototypes can operate on electric power for a range of about 7 miles and can re-charge in three to four hours using a 110-vlot outlet. Under the hood is the current Prius’s 1.5-liter inline four. The electric motor generates 50kW, which combined with the more powerful pack, allows the Prius prototype to reach 62 mph on electric-only power. Current cars can only hit about 25 mph before the gasoline engine cuts in.
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