Thin Metal Film Battery Technology for Low Cost, High Power, Quick Recharge Electric Powered Vehicles

This research project will develop a unique, high-power, 30 amp hour (Ah) rechargeable battery for a variety of commercial and military applications. The performance characteristics of this technology have produced the highest specific peak power of any known battery technology, producing power levels in excess of 5000 Watts/kilogram (W/kg) and 16,000 Watts/liter (W/1). In addition, this unique Thin Metal Film technology has produced cells with the lowest internal impedance, for its size, of any known rechargeable battery technology using any chemistry. These cells are capable of being recharged to the 80% level in 3 minutes and fully recharded in approximately 10 minutes. This technology has been successfully demonstrated with small 1.5 Ah cells. The technical objective of the proposed project is to determine the optimum cell configuration, design and manufacturability requirements to scale this technology from a cell size of 1.5 Ah to 30 Ah. In accomplishing this, the basic chemistry utilizes the lowest cost raw materials of any rechargeable battery technology. In addition, all the materials are not just commonly recyclable, but are fully reusable within the battery industry. Anticipated Benefits: Batteries exhibiting this power capability could make an important, cost effective contribution to the development of electric vehicles. They could either be the sole energy storage device or the power component of a hybrid system.