Someday ( hopefully, soon ) , Graphene will accelerate the
adoption of Electric Vehicles, through :
# Reducing the weight of a car
from 1300 kg to 650 kg
# Thereby, reducing the Li-ion
Battery size by 50 %
# Therefore , reducing the
selling price by 50 %
# Increasing Solar Panel
efficiency from 20 % to 80
%
# Mounting solar panels on car roof-tops
to charge small battery
# Thereby eliminating need for roadside battery
charging stations
For the rest, read :
E – Car Extrapolation : a
Wishful Thinking ?
What extrapolation ?
# Can weight of an E Car be reduced
by 50 % ? And, if yes , can the Lithium-ion Battery capacity also
get
reduced by 50 % ?
Eg :
Can weight of Mahindra
e-Verito [ D6 ], be reduced from 1265 kg to 650 kg – leading to its battery size going
down from 21.5 KWh to 10 KWh ?
[ e-Verito , most
likely uses 840 kg of steel and 130 kg of aluminum ]
But, how would that help ?
# Cost of
Lithium-ion Battery is said to be 40 % of the cost of an E Car
# E-Verito sells for Rs 13 lakh . That means, its
21.5 KWh battery might have a landed cost of Rs 5.2 lakh
# If the battery size becomes 10 KWh , could its
landed cost become Rs 2.6 lakh ?
But aren’t Lithium-ion
Battery prices dropping anyway, year after year ?
# Very much so . By end of 2019, battery prices
are expected to come down to $ 100 / KWh
# Hence , a 21.5 KWh battery’s international
price could come down to $ 2,150
# After 40.8 % duty , that could mean a landed
cost of $ 3,000 ( Rs 2.10 Lakh )
# And the landed cost of a 9 KWh battery could be
only $ 1,500 ( Rs 1.05 Lakh ) !
According to the survey of EnergyTrend, the
average price of lithium-ion batteries in each electric passenger car is
currently about US$15,000, and is expected to fall below US$10,000 in 2020
Hey , Sounds incredible ! But
is there a direct relation between the “ Car Weight “ and “ Battery Size “ ?
Can a 10 KWh battery suffice if e-Verito’s weight gets reduced to 650 Kg ?
# Here are some examples of empirical
extrapolation ( of a layman , no doubt ! )
#
Ather 450 Electric Motorbike weighs 118 kg and carries a Lithium-ion battery of 1.92 KWh
Add 2 passengers ( 2 x 75 = 150 kg ) , taking the laden weight to 268 kg
And this :
Mahindra Treo ( 3 Wheeler ) weighs 340 kg and
carries a Lithium-ion battery of 7.37 Kwh
Add
4 passengers ( 4 x 75 = 300 kg ) , taking the laden weight to 640 Kg !
But wait ! e-Verito has to carry
4 passengers ( incl driver ) – adding 300 kg of weight to 650 kg of car !
That adds up to a laden weight of 950 Kg .
# It is
like adding up the weights and the battery sizes of the above-mentioned [ 2
Wheeler + 3 Wheeler ] . Quite
probable
!
OK, fine ! but how can we bring down
the weight of e-Verito from 1265 Kg to 650 Kg ?
# By
replacing Steel used in car , with Graphene
What is Graphene ?
#
It is a transparent layer of carbon wafer , just one atom thick
How is that important ?
#
Graphene is 200
times stronger than steel and 10 times better at conducting heat than copper
# Graphene-based chips could
deliver speeds more than ten times faster than
silicon chips
# In chemical and electrical
sensors, graphene could increase sensitivity by a factor of more than 30
# Graphene is
also 250 times better at conducting electricity than silicon
# If we
replaced the silicon chips in today’s transistors with graphene-based chips, we
could increase the speed of
electronic devices ten-fold. ( FIRST
GRAPHENE-BASED DEVICE IS A “FEW MONTHS” AWAY, SAYS STARTUP )
Is this wonder material
Graphene , commercially available ?
#
Not yet , but in a matter of months [ Congratulations , Prof. Sir Colin
Humphreys ]
#
A start up called “ Paragraf “ is
expected to launch Graphene wafers , very soon
Then why do you say , “
Wishful Thinking “ ?
# Being 200 TIMES stronger
than Steel, without doubt Graphene can cut down the weight of a car manifolds.
But to begin with, it might cost 2000 TIMES the price of steel , thereby
precluding its use
# But ( - and again without doubt ), it is bound to
become economically viable replacement as steel prices
continue to rise and further breakthrough
in the manufacturing processes of Graphene , dramatically lowers its
cost .
# Even car components will get made by using Graphene
in 3 D printing process
Do you think any of our
Policy Makers would ask our scientists / engineers to examine this ?
I have no doubt that should Shri Nitin Gadkariji
get to read this blog ( - being sent to him as an email ) , then he will waste
no time to do so
He might ask ISRO :
“ Can you develop Solar Panels using Graphene
to boost its efficiency manifolds ( say from current 20 % to 80 % ) – then
install such a Solar Panel on roof-top of an Electric Car , to continuously
charge its Lithium-ion battery, so that E cars do not need any road-side
Battery Charging Stations , saving an investment of Rs 175 lakh*crore ? “
What gives you such hope ?
After reading the following , you should have
no doubts !
City MP and Union minister for road transport,
highways and Shipping , Nitin Gadkari is all set to launch a project
to operate a 150 seater bus which will ply in the air
He added that tender for the project will be
finalized by 15 Aug
Could a dramatic reduction in
Electric Car-Weight , leading to equally dramatic reduction in Lithium-ion
Battery size – and price – accelerate the adoption of Electric cars in India ?
No doubt !
Imagine if lighter weight cars having very small
Lithium-ion batteries were to start selling for Rs 5 lakh , then no one would
want to touch a petrol car
And our government would not need to spend Rs
10,000 crore ( under FAME
II ) to “ incentivize “ buyers !
Is there any other
alternative to dramatically reduce battery size / cost, without having to reduce
the car weight ?
Sure !
Following breakthroughs in Battery Technology are promising
cheaper / much more powerful / longer lasting and faster charging batteries :
A Lithium Air Battery [ fifth as light as current
versions and one-fifth their prices ]
Lithium−Air Battery:
Promise and Challenges
B Graphene Battery
[ giving a 500 miles / 800 km range ]
Grabat
Graphenano Energy
C Foam Batteries
https://www.prietobattery.com/
D Nano
Batteries
Nanotechnology in
Batteries (Nano Battery)
E
Auminum – Air Batteries
EV
juice from Alu-Air Battery ?
F
Sodium – Air Battery
Congratulations
, Shri GopuKumarji
G
Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Ray
, a drop of golden Sun
=========================================================
Dear Shri Gadkariji,
I
urge you to ask Prime Minister’s “ Science Technology and Innovation Advisory
Committee “ members to examine licensing Graphene
Manufacturing Technology from Prof. Sir Colin
Humphreys / Paragraf
======================================================================
21 March 2019
Rsvp ; hcp@RecruitGuru.com
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