New Electric Vehicle Technology With Big Promises

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It’s no secret that I am a big fan of electric-powered vehicles. I have spent several years developing an electric-powered, 3 wheeled, tilting motorcycle. Two of the greatest challenges deal with power input and power output. The challenge with power input mainly deals with the ability to have access to power when needed. The challenge with power output is that current battery technology is great at holding decent amounts of energy, but they are very slow to recharge. It seems that two new breakthroughs may be able to resolve some of these challenges. The University of Illinois is developing batteries that could be charged up in a matter of minutes, while MIT unveils thin, durable solar cells able to be printed on paper.

While batteries hold a decent amount of power, it takes them a long time to recharge. This is a hurdle for electric vehicles, as critics claim that the limited range of electric vehicles would not be a big deal if they could be powered up within a matter of minutes – much like we currently fuel our internal combustion engine vehicles. Paul Braun, professor of material science and engineering at the University of Illinois, says that the developing battery technology at UI is able to both “store a reasonably large amount of energy,” and has charging characteristics of capacitors. This technology would allow people to find a place to charge up along their route, quickly charge their vehicle, and continue on with their trip – even a long distance trip, which many electric vehicles are not able to do currently.

Of course, the ability to find a charging station can be an issue. In the future when electric vehicles become commonplace, charging stations may be very easy to find. In the mean time, however, finding a place to charge your electric vehicle can be a great challenge. People have thought about placing solar panels on their vehicles to help “top them off” while they park. Besides the long charging times of current battery technology, placing solar panels on a vehicle can be difficult due to the amount that would be required to charge a vehicle and their physical characteristics – a large majority of them are inflexible, flat panels.

MIT may have a solution to putting solar cells on vehicles. MIT has made great progress in their creation of solar cell-coated paper. What looks to be a sheet of paper with small, colored rectangles, and has the ability to be folded and unfolded, is able to produce electricity when wires are hooked to it. Besides its flexible nature, a great aspect of this technology is that is inexpensive. When laminated, the MIT solar cell-coated paper is able to easily be used outdoors without concern for rain or wind. This technology would allow people to integrate solar cells into the body of an electric vehicle, which would turn the whole vehicle into a power generation station.

Even if one were to use MIT’s solar cell-coated paper technology on an electric vehicle, the power produced may not be enough to charge up the vehicle to 100% capacity. When combined with the UI new quick charging battery technology, however, the solar cells may be able to provide enough of a charge when sitting idle in parking lots and driveways to recharge a decent amount of energy. Together, these technologies could help to make electric vehicles a viable part of our near future.

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