Large Corporations Getting In On Hybrid Research and Testing
March 26, 2008
Large corporations like Exxon Mobile and Coca Cola are participating in hybrid vehicle research that may lead to longer battery life and better evaluations of vehicle performance.
Exxon Mobile is extending product development for a battery technology it initially created for mobile phones, to a variation that could be used in hybrid vehicle batteries. The specific component is a separator film used in Li-ion battery technologies. Separator films are used to prevent chemicals inside the battery from coming into contact and creating an uncontrolled reaction. Membrane failures have been implicated in cascade failures inside Li-ion batteries that can lead to explosions and fires.
Maintaining membrane integrity in the Li-ion’ battery’s high temperature environment is critical to battery safety. Exxon Mobile’s membrane can withstand internal temperatures up to 374°. Exxon Mobile is working with the new Electrovaya Maya 300, which is expected to hit the market later in 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, Exxon Mobile will build a new plant to produce the membrane. The plant, which is expected to cost $300 million, will be located in South Korea, but research work on the film will continue in Japan and the United States. Exxon Mobile is hoping to supply the major automakers with the film within the next ten years.
On the other end of the research setting, Coca Cola Consolidated is working with Duke Energy to test plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The companies will convert some of their fleet vehicles to PHEVs using aftermarket kits. Coca Cola Consolidated currently operates one of the largest hybrid fleets in the country and will convert three of its current Toyota Prius cars to PHEVs. The technology has the promise to allow vehicles to travel more than one hundred miles on a single gallon of gas. The savings in fuel costs for large fleets is obvious and the companies are hoping to spur commercial production of PHEVs.
Photo courtesy of Exxon Mobile
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