September 2013 

Feature Article

Thermal Management of an Electrical Vehicle Battery Packing
Using 1D and 3D CFD

Doug Kolak, Boris Marovic and Steve Streater, Mentor Graphics

With the increased concerns over the future use of fossil fuels, especially in automobiles, the rise of popular sentiment towards electric and hybrid electrical vehicles is no surprise. But there is still a major area of design challenge: batteries. As the primary means for storing the electrical energy used for electrical vehicles, the battery of choice needs to be extremely efficient yet as lightweight as possible to allow for reasonable driving distance on a single charge. Although several factors affect the efficiency of these batteries, one of the most important is temperature. <read more>

Call for Presentations

Battery Power 2014 is currently accepting abstracts. Topics will include new battery designs, improving power management, predicting battery life and regulation and safety issues. Other topics include OEM/end user requirements, battery authentication and market trends.

The conference provides an excellent forum to discuss new developments in technology, market conditions and end-user requirements that are driving innovation, capabilities and features, application trends and performance improvements.

Deadline to submit an abstract is December 5th.

Click here for additional information.

Johnson Controls Debuts First-Generation Micro Hybrid Battery
Johnson Controls has unveiled its first-generation 48-volt Lithium-ion Micro Hybrid battery. The new battery is part of the company’s full spectrum of advanced energy storage solutions for automobiles. <read more>

Encell Technology's Atlas 160 Nickel Iron Batteries Outperform VRLAs

Encell Technology, a next-generation energy storage battery and electronics company, has introduced the Atlas 160 Nickel-Iron battery. This product is designed to replace traditional valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries in demanding microgrid energy storage applications. <read more>

TI Wireless Power Chip Simplifies Development of Qi Charging Stations

Building on its power management portfolio, Texas Instruments (TI) introduced its next-generation wireless power transfer circuit to support the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) 1.1 specification. The bq500212A transmitter, which is shipping in volume production, requires one-third fewer components than competitive solutions. <read more>

Magnetic Battery Stack with Cordless Charging Ability
Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of consumer and off-grid products integrated with flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules, has released the EnerPlexJumprline of portable batteries, the Jumpr Stack. <read more>

VPG’s Bulk Metal Foil Current Sensing Resistors Offer Accuracy and Stability for Li-Ion Batteries in Avionics
Vishay Precision Group, Inc.  has completed tests showing that its Bulk MetalFoil current sensing resistors meet the accuracy and stability required by its aircraft customers for charging of Li-ion batteries in avionics applications. VFR resistors provide a variety of device configurations and ultra-high-precision specifications to help ensure the efficient and safe charging of Li-ion batteries. <read more>

CODA to Provide Energy Storage for Solar Integrated Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Station in the San Francisco Bay Area
CODA Energy, with Energy Vault and Growing Energy Labs (GELI), will deploy the first Eco-Station, a solar integrated electric vehicle (EV) fast charging station optimized by energy storage, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The charging station will incorporate a 175 kW solar array, DC fast charging, a 40kWh CODA Core UDP energy storage system and GELI's intelligent Energy Operating System (EOS) software. <read more>

Axion Power's PowerCube Powered By PbC Batteries a Potential Provider In California's Energy Storage Mandate
Axion Power International, Inc., a developer of lead-carbon PbC batteries and energy storage systems, believes its PowerCube battery energy storage system will qualify as a potential provider in California's new proposed state mandate calling for the creation of 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage to support the state's power grid by 2020 (and beginning in 2014). <read more>

Powin Energy Will Build Three EV Charging Stations for Kanematsu USA/EV Collective
Powin Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Powin Corp., has secured a purchase order to build three units of an electric vehicle fast charging station for Kanematsu USA, whose EV Collective division is a leader in manufacturing and technologies that serve the electric vehicle industry.<read more>