lihtium battery not yet applicable for hybrids

Article from resource investor:

There is a lithium ion battery technology which works well at small to medium scale; it is the currently mass produced lithium-cobalt-ion battery, which is used, in a rechargeable form, as the battery in laptop computers and other portable devices requiring a steady drain at a fixed voltage over as long a period of time as possible. It is probably the case that the widespread acceptance and sales of laptop computers have been due, in large part, to the improved battery powered operating life offered by the lithium-cobalt-ion rechargeable system as opposed to the previous systems based on either nickel cadmium or nickel metal hydride systems, both of which worked, but both of which had shorter use times between necessary recharging cycles, and lower operating voltages, and were hindered by the necessity of not allowing them to be discharged below a certain level. The lithium-cobalt-ion has some of the same limitations especially with regard to a baseline below which a discharge may not go without permanent damage to the battery and limited temperature ranges for efficient, or safe, operation, but innovations in built in computer management of these issues has now resulted in the realization of routine practical performance superior to that of its predecessor technologies.

Unfortunately, as anyone who reads the papers knows, lithium-cobalt-ion batteries have a known tendency to overheat, and, it has been shown, that they can catch fire. Therefore it has not been possible for car makers to simply ask lithium-cobalt-ion battery makers to scale them up to a size and power level necessary for the operation of a mass produced electric or hybrid vehicle, which would require the mass production of a battery the safety, or reliability, or both of which is at question. Thus all of the makers of mass produced hybrid vehicles continue to produce and rely upon the safety of nickel metal hydride batteries while telling us that they will ‘soon’ produce electric or hybrid vehicles of greater range and better performance by utilizing a ‘so far un-named,’ or, at best, an undetermined, safe and reliable lithium-ion battery technology.

All of the mass production car companies that have pronounced on the matter have adopted the following strategy to achieve a ‘next generation’ hybrid and/or an electric car: Each one of the OEMs has chosen one or more lithium-ion battery technology development companies, usually a start up based on a particular non cobalt technology or a technology using a solid rather than a liquid electrolyte, frequently delivered as a polymer ‘film.’

The OEMs have paired these companies with an existing supplier of mass produced batteries and charged the existing battery mass producer with the task of determining when and how to bring the particular lithium ion battery technology to them as a mass produced safe and reliable component. Note well that no one in the world has yet to make a lithium battery technology of any kind that is suitable for operating a vehicle which can be mass-produced economically, and outperform a vehicle equipped with the nickel metal hydride batteries which are today routinely mass-produced by several Japanese and Chinese manufacturers.

Toyota has stepped back from its original announced intent to introduce a next generation Prius with a ‘lithium battery; Honda has announced that it will introduce its Prius fighter small hybrid with a nickel metal hydride battery pack, because, Honda’s CEO has stated, “The lithium battery is not ready for mass production.”

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