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When cars, planes, ships or computers are built from a material that functions as both a battery and a load-bearing structure, the weight and energy consumption are radically reduced. A research group at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden is now presenting a world-leading advance in so-called massless energy storage – a structural battery that could halve the weight of a laptop, make the mobile phone as thin as a credit card or increase the driving range of an electric car by up to 70 percent on a single charge. image: Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in...

A lithium-ion battery was behind a Thursday night fire in Auburn. According to the Auburn Fire Department, the call came in just before 10:30p of a fire on Liberty St. While en route, units were told that explosions were observed in the kitchen and the residents could still be inside. Once on scene, crews had the fire under control within ten minutes. No one was injured and three cats were rescued; however, four adults were displaced. It has been determined by fire investigators that a battery charging on the kitchen counter was behind the blaze. This is the second fire...

Workers at a Tennessee battery plant have voted to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) — marking a significant victory in the union’s ongoing campaign to organize both the Southeast and the electric vehicle (EV) industry. “Southern workers are ready to stand up and win our fair share by winning our unions. And when we have a free and fair choice, we will win every time,” Trudy Lindahl, a worker at the Ultium plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., said in a statement. General Motors (GM), the Detroit-based automaker that runs the plant as a cooperative venture with South Korea-based LG...

Charging lithium-ion batteries at high currents just before they leave the factory is 30 times faster and increases battery lifespans by 50%, according to a study at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center. A lithium-ion battery’s very first charge is more momentous than it sounds. It determines how well and how long the battery will work from then on – in particular, how many cycles of charging and discharging it can handle before deteriorating.In a study published today in Joule, researchers at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center report that giving batteries this first charge at unusually high currents increased their average lifespan by...

An exploding electric bike battery was behind the fire last week at an Auburn inn. According to the Auburn Fire Department, the fire happened just before 6:00p on August 15 at the Cayuga Inn at the Finger Lakes (formerly the Days Inn) at 37 William St. Crews quickly made their way to the second-floor room where there were multiple fires were found. After extinguishing the fires, investigators determined an e-bike battery exploded, causing individual cells to scatter around the room. Damage was largely contained to the room with minor water damage on the first floor room below. There were no...

There's a new trend in the automotive industry to replace physical parts with electrically-actuated systems. The most obvious example is the electrical door release system. All Teslas have such a system, which ensures that the frameless windows are lowered before the door opens. However, when the 12-volt battery dies, the same systems can pose a significant danger, especially when people must quickly evacuate the vehicle. Tesla offers a backup emergency release that works without power, but many owners are unaware of how to use it. Sometimes, the release string is hidden behind the door panel and is not always easy...

The Vires Law Group, in conjunction with the Edward L. Tarpley, Jr., APLC and bolstered by the support of the Former Feds Group Freedom Foundation, has announced the submission of criminal referral requests to the District Attorneys of nine Louisiana parishes.The referrals call for the initiation of criminal investigations against Dr. Anthony Fauci, Deborah “Scarf Lady” Birx, Rochelle Walensky, Peter Daszak, and other public health officials for alleged crimes committed against Louisiana citizens preceding and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle. The scientists have hypothesized that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle as well as high pedestrian density in noisy urban areas could be major reasons. The study uncovered a pedestrian casualty rate of 5.16 per 100 million miles driven for electric and hybrid vehicles, more than double the 2.4 per 100 million miles recorded for traditional gasoline-powered cars.

It's not a laptop in first class or a cheap Chinese scooter smoking ominously in the plane's cargo hold. Nor is it a massive commercial ship packed to the gills with cars being transported across an ocean that has had one of the EVs parked onboard light off, and now the whole vessel is hopelessly ablaze. It's not another fiery EV in a driveway or garage or the solar panels on a rooftop, even though I have covered all of those. Comments regular Global Traveler turned me on to an ongoing drama in, of all places, San Diego County that...

In my self-designated role critiquing various schemes for total transformation of the world energy system, I get to review large amounts of poor, shoddy, and incompetent work. When people get into advocating for this “energy transition,” the stars regularly align to bring forth the most extreme levels of ineptitude. Start with the fact that the “smartest” people are filled with arrogance and hubris, but are not actually very smart. Add that many innumerate Politics and English majors have flooded into a field that cries out for engineering calculations. Add too that groupthink and orthodoxy enforcement prevent anyone from pointing out...

IM motors has decided that semi solid-state batteries are ready for prime time. In an omen of what Western automakers will need to contend with, it's now launched a futuristic luxury coupe with a next-gen battery pack and crab-walking capability. The high-density lithium batteries we enjoy today were an absolute technological revolution. They blew rechargeable nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal-hydride batteries out of the water, offering such a leap in energy storage by weight and volume that suddenly all sorts of things became possible.

LEANDER, Texas — Leander resident Shaun Noll never expected to spend Easter morning going through the wreckage of his home. But that’s where he found himself after a battery for his cordless vacuum exploded. On Thursday, Noll’s two young sons were in his living room when a battery that had been plugged into the wall charging a cordless vacuum exploded. --- end excerpt ---

Footage of Russian forces torturing the men they arrested over the Moscow terror attack emerged tonight, with one man given electric shocks to his genitals and a second forced to eat his own ear. One image shows a suspect named as Shamsuddin Fariddun foaming at the mouth as he lies on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his groin area. At the other end they are attached to a military radio powered by an 80-volt battery. Separate video sees another man, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, having his ear severed and then spitting it out as...

Elon Musk’s Tesla has suffered another safety setback after a tenacious lithium-ion fire battery suddenly hit a Tesla EV driving on an Ohio highway which led to a three-hour closure of the northbound lanes of Route 255 in Bethalto, Illinois on Sunday. Thankfully, the driver and their passengers safely escaped the burning vehicle before it was too late. The Alton Telegraph reports that a Tesla electric vehicle caught fire while traveling northbound on Route 255 in Bethalto, Illinois on Sunday, prompting a major response from multiple fire departments and the Madison County Hazmat Team. The incident, which began around noon,...

A Chinese battery giant has sued a small Michigan town over its opposition to plans to build a $2.4billion factory in its community, sparking accusations it is trying to 'bully' residents into submission. Gotion, which 'pledges allegiance' to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), stepped up its war with Green Charter Township on Friday by filing a federal complaint accusing local officials of trying to scupper the project illegally. The row centers over a deal agreed between Gotion and the previous township board, which was booted out by residents in a recall election in November over its support for the project....

For a number of years, I’ve been observing demands of activists and promises of politicians that we transition our electrical grid to being supplied mainly by the intermittent renewables, wind and solar, with all large dispatchable sources (fossil fuel and nuclear) banished. Early on, I thought it was obvious that such a transition would inevitably mean that the only way to make the grid function full-time would be energy storage — on a vast scale never before contemplated or attempted. How much storage, and at what potential cost? This is actually an arithmetic problem, somewhat cumbersome but conceptually very elementary,...

A team from the University of Liverpool has developed a new solid lithium-ion conductor that could replace liquid electrolytes in batteries, enhancing safety and efficiency. This discovery, facilitated by AI and interdisciplinary collaboration, paves the way for further advancements in sustainable energy storage solutions. Image represents the lithium ions (in blue) moving through the structure. Credit: University of Liverpool ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Researchers at the University of Liverpool have identified a novel solid substance capable of swiftly conducting lithium ions. A major challenge in the field of materials science involves developing and identifying novel materials that contribute towards achieving global objectives, including...

Buying an EV entails many other costs besides the vehicle. Insurance is way higher. Some companies won't insure them at all. Tires wear out quicker (20k miles) and are more expensive. Video at link....................

YouTube Transcript... We've all seen EVS on fire a result of the lithium ion battery which provides the power to the car experiencing a condition known as thermal runaway. This is when one of the individual cells in the battery is either damaged by an impact or just degrades over time to the point where it causes a short circuit. This generates heat in the cell which causes an outcof control chemical reaction to become self- sustaining very quickly the heat spreads to the cells nearby heating them to the point where they also go out of control in a...

South Korean drivers are concerned that their future EVs could catch fire while charging or in a car crash ... In 2020 and 2021, several high-profile cases of EVs catching fire were reported in South Korea. Three years ago, an electric bus manufactured by Hyundai Motor caught fire while in use. A few months earlier, Hyundai Motor recalled more than 77,000 Kona EVs sold globally after 13 of the electric crossover vehicles caught fire. Hyundai and its battery supplier LG Chem were at odds over the reasons for the recall, with the battery cell maker saying it wasn’t its battery...