Vanadium In mobile battery applications, namely car batteries...

Vanadium

In mobile battery applications, namely car batteries for use in electric and hybrid vehicles, vanadium is being added to various lithium-based battery technologies to produce a car battery that can store more energy (which translates into a greater distance travelled on a single charge), provide more power (which translates into more torque) and can be recharged faster.
At present, the lithium-Vanadium-phosphate combination is regarded by some as the best chemistry due to the advantage it has over all other existing lithium-based chemistries, (particularly lithium-cobalt batteries, the standard type of chemistry you have in your laptop) because of its ability to produce the highest energy density and voltage. This means they can store more energy than similar chemistries such as Manganese Oxide and are very good at producing power and producing it safely (Figures 1 and 2). Coupled with the fact that lithium-Vanadium-phosphate is cheaper than alternatives such as lithium-cobalt, many researchers and analysts consider this chemistry to be a very real contender for the next generation of automotive batteries. Research and development sources say the amount of Vanadium used relative to lithium in these batteries is a 1:1 ratio.

One of the most compelling break-throughs illustrating how Vanadium, when combined with lithium, creates “supercharged” batteries is the recent news by Germany’s DBM Energy. In partnership with German utility Lekker Energie, DBM Energy equipped an Audi A2 electric vehicle with its new lithium-Vanadium metal polymer battery and set a long distance record of 603 kilometres (375 miles) travelled on a single charge. The battery’s basic electro-chemistry consists of a metallic lithium anode and a Vanadium oxide cathode. DBM Energy claims the battery has 97% efficiency and can be charged at virtually any electrical socket. Plugged into a 240-volt direct-current source, the battery can be fully charged within 6 minutes.
There are now several companies that have announced that they are developing and in some cases, soon producing lithium-Vanadium-phosphate batteries:

• China’s BYD Auto
• Japan’s GS Yuasa Corp. (which provides batteries for Mitsubishi Motors)
• Japan’s Subaru Motors
• United States’ Valence Technologies

But hey all of us VRC holders are fools aren't we.......