Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Thursday, 21 March 2019

THIS IS NOT AN ELECTION ISSUE : ONLY MORE IMPORTANT !

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/ 

 

 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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