Notes:
The Lithium Polymer battery relies on thin-film technology, with composite films that
are only 100 microns thick. It’s a solid state battery that can be wound and
shaped to suite the application. It uses a plastic electrolyte. 3M expects that a
typical EV battery pack would weigh on the order of 500 pounds (224 kg), which could
provide as much as 45 kW-h of energy. In comparison, EV1’s lead-acid battery
pack weighs over 1000 pounds (480 kg) and provides 16 kW-h of energy. So we have the
potential of storing nearly 3 times the energy with half the mass of today’s
lead-acid batteries. Cycle life should be high, and the battery should be relatively
cheap to build.
Lithium is a very reactive metal and there’s a lot of concern out there about the
safety of a lithium battery. But the folks at 3M feel confident that they have a
system that makes a lithium battery a very benign product. They’ve driven nails
through their LPB module, crushed it, and all with virtually no bad effects.
According to 3M, they will be ready to produce commercial Lithium Polymer EV batteries
by year 2000. At that point, the ball will be passed to car-makers so they can test
and evaluate the technology. That could take four to five years. So it’s
possible that LPBs could show up in cars about 2005.
So if I have to eat anything, I’m going to invite the folks in New Product
Development at 3M.
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