Solid state battery already in a production car

[begreen]

We watched a French movie last night about a cranky butcher meeting his vegan son-in-law to be. The SIL drove an electric car and my wife asked what kind it was. I didn't recognize it, but a bit of research showed it is the Bolleré BlueCar. It's a city car that started production in 2011. What surprised me is that they have their own battery factory and they had solid-state batteries in them. Zut alors!

Bolloré is unique in integrating solid-state batteries into production vehicles.[17] The LMP batteries consist of a laminate of four ultra-thin materials: (1) metallic lithium foil anode that acts as both a lithium source and a current collector; (2) solid polymeric electrolyte created by dissolving a lithium salt in a solvating co-polymer (polyoxyethylene); (3) cathode composed of vanadium oxide, carbon, and polymer to form a plastic composite; and (4) aluminium foil current collector.[18]

Bolloré Bluecar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[blades]

seems they are having the same melt down problem with batteries as everyone else. can't say as I would get on board with a monthly rental fee of the battery at $100. Range is a bit short as well.

 

[begreen]

seems they are having the same melt down problem with batteries as everyone else. can't say as I would get on board with a monthly rental fee of the battery at $100. Range is a bit short as well.

I read that was the leakage report was from a negative, unfounded, rumor piece. The battery doesn't have a liquid electrolyte and has not had a leakage issue afaik. The disinformation piece has been debunked. There have been 2 reports of a battery fire on buses, and they did have a warehouse fire this year but the cause is still TBD. FWIW, buses also have engine fires with fair frequency.

What is also interesting is that they teamed up the battery with a supercapacitor. The range is sort of short but better than the original Leaf. It is an inexpensive city car, not a cross-country traveler. 155mi city use is not shabby. Also, Europe's charging network is much more robust than here so range anxiety is less of an issue. The company deserves credit for pioneering solid-state batteries in production capacity and employment.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I saw a 3 wheeled city EV a couple days ago. It reminded me of a Morgan, but with 2 seats. It seems smarter to focus on small city commuters than full size cars and trucks. Little cars with quick charging batteries would eliminate many of the concerns with EV adoption. It’s probably easier to find parking spaces for them too!

I saw a little internet documentary on an Italian 3 wheeler that had the car registered as a motorcycle or something to get around all the safety regulations.

 

[begreen]

Was it the Fiat 500-e MicroLino minicar?

Which is cuter, the Microlino electric bubble car or its electric scooter companion?

The bubble car is back, thanks to the upcoming all-electric Microlino. And now we’re getting word that the adorable little...

electrek.co

We saw a Renault Twizy when in Medellin, Colombia. It's an odd car but could park almost anywhere. I think this is a gas car though.

Renault Twizy review | Auto Express

The Renault Twizy is an expensive, quirky, extroverted and somewhat impractical way to show your green credentials

www.autoexpress.co.uk

The little Ami is quite popular there. They even race them.

Citroën launches $6,000 electric car that a 14-year-old can drive

Citroën is launching the Ami, a new ~$6,000 mini electric car that can cost just $20 per month and it...

electrek.co

 

[bogieb]

I saw a 3 wheeled city EV a couple days ago. It reminded me of a Morgan, but with 2 seats. It seems smarter to focus on small city commuters than full size cars and trucks. Little cars with quick charging batteries would eliminate many of the concerns with EV adoption. It’s probably easier to find parking spaces for them too!

I saw a little internet documentary on an Italian 3 wheeler that had the car registered as a motorcycle or something to get around all the safety regulations.

3 wheelers are usually considered motorcycles by the states. IDK, there could be a rogue state or two that legally consider them cars.

 

[begreen]

Might have been an Arcimoto. They are made in Oregon. Cool concept, but at $19K+ I would opt for a used Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt, etc, especially for winter and foul weather driving.

Arcimoto - Ultra Efficient Electric Vehicles

www.arcimoto.com

None of these vehicles uses the pioneering solid-state battery tech developed by Bolleré.

 

[blades]

the burn down on the blues was not speced as to what the cause was in the article i read (several years old) there were not links to any updated info. lith... are not leaking per se but are overheating. If you remember the were some incidents involving commercial planes that had Lithum paks for back up power supply to controls. this was before introduction to the general automotive market. gets a bit exciting to have an internal fire when you are a couple miles above the ground.

 

[begreen]

the burn down on the blues was not speced as to what the cause was in the article i read (several years old) there were not links to any updated info. lith... are not leaking per se but are overheating. If you remember the were some incidents involving commercial planes that had Lithum paks for back up power supply to controls. this was before introduction to the general automotive market. gets a bit exciting to have an internal fire when you are a couple miles above the ground.

Yes, that is a concern. It has affected new vehicles like the Bolt and Lightning. I haven't lost any sleep over it with the Volt in the garage.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Might have been an Arcimoto. They are made in Oregon. Cool concept, but at $19K+ I would opt for a used Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt, etc, especially for winter and foul weather driving.

Arcimoto - Ultra Efficient Electric Vehicles

www.arcimoto.com

None of these vehicles uses the pioneering solid-state battery tech developed by Bolleré.

That’s it!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

There’s been a lot of YouTube videos on Toyotas solid state work in my feed.

 

[begreen]

Given Toyota's conservative approach to battery tech and reputation for reliability, it could be a winner.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Toyota solid state: 745 mile range, 10 minutes charge time!

Toyota Reveals Solid-State EV Battery with 745-Mile Range, Cuts Emissions by 39%

Toyota reveals its solid-state EV battery technology which claims to have a 745 mile range and 10 minute charging time. Solid-state batteries can reduce the ca

carboncredits.com

 

[begreen]

My guess is the long range will only be seen in the high-end luxury models from Lexus. I suspect they will use this tech to reduce battery bank size, thus reducing weight and costs for the standard Toyota cars. Still, if they make an affordable car with 350-mile range and fast charging, most people will be happy.

 

[EbS-P]

My guess is the long range will only be seen in the high-end luxury models from Lexus. I suspect they will use this tech to reduce battery bank size, thus reducing weight and costs for the standard Toyota cars. Still, if they make an affordable car with 350-mile range and fast charging, most people will be happy.

I think It’s all marketing. Range still sells in America. What charging system right now could charge at a rate of 4,200 miles per hour? That lets just make some wild assumptions for easy math. Let’s assume that they get 10 miles per kWh (that’s probably double what a real car could do). They need a 70 kWh pack (doable) to change in. 10 minutes or 420kw. Use a realistic mileage and now we’re talking about gig watt charging. (Which Tesla uses but won’t be publicly available for quite some time).

I’d like to see battery prices and weights come down and hope solid state batteries can do that. But it’s probably more than 5 years away.

 

[woodgeek]

They need a 70 kWh pack (doable) to change in. 10 minutes or 420kw. Use a realistic mileage and now we’re talking about gig watt charging. (Which Tesla uses but won’t be publicly available for quite some time).

I think you mean mega-watt charging?

 

[semipro]

the burn down on the blues was not speced as to what the cause was in the article i read (several years old) there were not links to any updated info. lith... are not leaking per se but are overheating. If you remember the were some incidents involving commercial planes that had Lithum paks for back up power supply to controls. this was before introduction to the general automotive market. gets a bit exciting to have an internal fire when you are a couple miles above the ground.

From what I've been able to gather, ICE and EVs have fires at approximately the same rate. The real difference between them seems to be how much more effort/time is required to extinguish a lithium-based battery fire.
This is a real problem that needs to be worked out otherwise many of the benefits that EVs offer will be negated through the direct environmental impacts of fires and the indirect effects (and PITA) of traffic congestion.

 

[woodgeek]

From what I've read, ICE cars burn up at a much higher rate than EVs. I've seen two ICEs on fire in the last couple years.

 

[EbS-P]

From what I've read, ICE cars burn up at a much higher rate than EVs. I've seen two ICEs on fire in the last couple years.

I second this…. And many of the high profile fires were crashes at extreme high speeds where the occupants wouldn’t have good chances of surviving and if it had been an ice would have been a fireball too. And I personally feel that 10-20 gallons of gasoline near hot engine/exhaust components is more dangerous than sitting on a 1000# Li battery.