#battery-electric vehicle

[jrnerad]

2024 Lexus LS 500h: Can Hybrids Make Sedans Relevant Again?

When the Lexus LS was introduced as the brand’s seminal offering, full-size sedans were the flagships of every luxury lineup. But that was in 1989 when Taylor Swift was born and when Elon Musk was a teenager leaving South Africa for a new life in Canada. In the ensuing decades, American luxury car buyers have largely turned their backs on big sedans, preferring the upright stance of SUVs. But…

[robpegoraro]

Weekly output: pig butchering, NextGen TV, EV charging, Mark Vena podcast

I filed my last copy for this week at 10 p.m. Friday, and then it was a delight to have Saturday be my first legit work-free day since… um, Jan. 1. 1/16/2024: Don’t Engage: ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams Start With a Text, End in Financial Ruin, PCMag One reason I couldn’t unplug from work last Sunday: I had to watch my friend Sean Gallagher’s very good walkthrough of pig-butchering scams at the ShmooCon…

[reality-detective]

A well written explanation involving Lithium Ion Batteries. 👇

Understanding Thermal Runaway in Lithium Ion Battery Fires. Thermal Runaway Explained:

Thermal runaway is a chain reaction within a lithium-ion battery that can lead to catastrophic failure, resulting in fires or explosions. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of what happens during thermal runaway:

1. Initial Trigger: Thermal runaway can be initiated by several factors, such as physical damage (e.g., puncturing or crushing), overcharging, manufacturing defects, or exposure to extreme heat.

2. Internal Heating: Once triggered, a part of the battery starts to overheat. This can be due to an internal short circuit or a chemical reaction within the battery.

3. Chain Reaction: The heat generated from the initial trigger increases the temperature inside the battery. This heat can cause other parts of the battery to react, generating even more heat.

4. Rapid Temperature Rise: As the temperature rises, the electrolyte inside the battery—a flammable liquid—starts to vaporize and decompose, producing gases. This further increases the internal pressure and temperature.

5. Gas Release and Ignition: The increasing pressure can cause the battery casing to rupture, releasing flammable gases. These gases can then ignite, leading to a fire or explosion.

6. Propagation: If the battery is part of a larger battery pack, the heat and flames can spread to adjacent cells, causing them to undergo thermal runaway as well. This can result in a large, intense fire that is difficult to control.

Key Points: - Difficult to Extinguish: Thermal runaway fires require massive amounts of water to cool the batteries and stop the chain reaction. Traditional fire extinguishers are often ineffective.

- Toxic Gases: Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases such as hydrogen fluoride, which can be harmful if inhaled.

- Reignition Risk: Even after the fire appears to be extinguished, there is a risk of reignition. The battery cells can remain hot and unstable for hours or even days.

Safety Measures:

- Distance: Establishing safety distances to keep people away from the danger zone.

- Continuous Monitoring: Using thermal imaging to monitor for any signs of reignition.

- Specialized Response: Firefighters need to use specialized techniques and equipment to handle lithium-ion battery fires safely.

Understanding thermal runaway helps in appreciating the complexity and danger of lithium-ion battery fires, highlighting the importance of safety precautions and effective response strategies. 🤔

[odinsblog]

(🚗 ÷🔋) + 🌊 = 🔥🔥🔥

source

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - October 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. EV owners volunteer to drive voters to the polls in 11 states (and you can too)

“ChargeTheVote.org is a nonpartisan voter education and engagement initiative to enhance voter turnout in the 2024 election by providing zero-emission transportation in electric vehicles (EVs) to local polling locations. ChargeTheVote will also host a webinar for those who are interested in participating this coming Tuesday, October 22 at 7pm Eastern time.”

2. Kenya moves 50 elephants to a larger park, says it’s a sign poaching is low

“The elephant population in the […”Mwea National Reserve”…] has flourished from its capacity of 50 to a whopping 156 […] requiring the relocation of about 100 of [them…. The] overpopulation in Mwea highlighted the success of conservation efforts over the last three decades.”

3. Australian start-up secures $9m for mine-based gravity energy storage technology

““We expect to configure the gravitational storage technology [which the company “hopes to deploy in disused mines”] for mid-duration storage applications of 4 to 24 hours, deliver 80% energy efficiency and to enable reuse of critical grid infrastructure.“”

4. Africa’s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help

“[H]unting households were given a pregnant sow [… so that they] had access to meat without needing to trap it in the wild. […] To address income needs, Embaka started […] a savings and loan co-op[… and an] incentive for the locals to give up hunting in exchange for regular dental care.”

5. 4.8M borrowers — including 1M in public service — have had student debt forgiven

“That brings the total amount of student debt relief under the administration to $175 billion[….] The Education Department said that before Biden's presidency, only 7,000 public servants had ever received student debt relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. […] "That’s an increase of more than 14,000% in less than four years.””

6. Puerto Rico closes $861M DOE loan guarantee for huge solar, battery project

“The solar plants combined will have 200 megawatts of solar capacity — enough to power 43,000 homes — while the battery systems are expected to provide up to 285 megawatts of storage capacity. [… O]ver the next 10 years, more than 90 percent of solar capacity in Puerto Rico will come from distributed resources like rooftop solar.”

7. Tim Walz Defends Queer And Trans Youth At Length In Interview With Glennon Doyle

“Walz discussed positive legislative actions, such as codifying hate crime laws and increasing education[.… “We] need to appoint judges who uphold the right to marriage, uphold the right to be who you are [… and] to get the medical care that you need.””

8. Next-Generation Geothermal Development Important Tool for Clean Energy Economy

““The newest forms of geothermal energy hold the promise of generating electricity 24 hours a day using an endlessly renewable, pollution-free resource[… that] causes less disturbance to public lands and wildlife habitat […] than many other forms of energy development[….]”

9. Sarah McBride hopes bid to be first transgender congresswoman encourages ’empathy’ for trans people

““Folks know I am personally invested in equality as an LGBTQ person. But my priorities are going to be affordable child care, paid family and medical leave, housing, health care, reproductive freedom. […] We know throughout history that the power of proximity has opened even the most-closed of hearts and minds.”“

10. At Mexico’s school for jaguars, big cats learn skills to return to the wild

“[A team of scientists] have successfully released two jaguars, and are currently working to reintroduce two other jaguars and three pumas (Puma concolor). [… “Wildlife simulation”] “keeps the jaguars active and reduces the impact of captivity and a sedentary lifestyle[….]””

October 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[reasonsforhope]

[In February, 2023], a small warehouse in the English city of Nottingham received the crucial final components for a project that leverages the power of used EV batteries to create a new kind of circular economy.

Inside, city authorities have installed 40 two-way electric vehicle chargers that are connected to solar panels and a pioneering battery energy storage system, which will together power a number of on-site facilities and a fleet of 200 municipal vehicles while simultaneously helping to decarbonize the UK’s electrical grid.

Each day Nottingham will send a combination of solar-generated energy — and whatever is left in the vehicles after the day’s use — from its storage devices into the national grid.  The so-called “vehicle to grid” chargers deliver this energy just when it’s needed most, during peak evening demand, when people are home cooking, using hot water or watching TV. Later, the same chargers pull energy from the grid to recharge the vehicles in the wee hours of the night, when folks are sleeping and electricity is cheaper and plentiful.

“We are trying to create a virtual power station,” says Steve Cornes, Nottingham City Council’s Technical Lead. “The solar power and battery storage will help us operate independently and outside of peak times, making our system more resilient and reducing stress on the national grid. We could even make a profit.” ...

After around a decade, an EV battery no longer provides sufficient performance for car journeys. However, they still can retain up to 80 percent of their original capacity, and with this great remaining power comes great reusability.

“As the batteries degrade, they lose their usefulness for vehicles,” says Matthew Lumsden, chairman of Connected Energy. “But batteries can be used for so many other things, and to not do so results in waste and more mining of natural resources.”

The E-STOR hubs come in the form of 20-foot modular containers, each one packed with 24 repurposed EV batteries from Renault cars. Each hub can provide up to 300kW of power, enough to provide energy to dozens of homes. One study by Lancaster University, commissioned by Connected Energy, calculated that a second life battery system saved 450 tons of CO2 per MWh over its lifetime...

Battery repurposing and recycling is set to play a massive role over the coming years as the automobile industry attempts to decarbonize and the world more broadly attempts to fight waste. The production of EVs, which use lithium-ion batteries, is accelerating. Tesla, for example, is aiming to sell 20 million EVs per year by 2030 — more than 13 times the current level. In turn, 12 million tons of EV batteries could become available for reuse by 2030, according to one estimate.

“Over the next decade we are going to see this gigantic wave,” says Jessica Dunn, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Companies are recognizing this is a necessary industry. They need to ramp up infrastructure for recycling and reuse.”

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 13, 2023

[anarchistin]

Cobalt mining is the slave farm perfected. It is a system of absolute exploitation for absolute profit.

– Siddharth Kara

[feddy-34]

PSA ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES

IF YOU OWN AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND ARE IN THE PATH OF AN ONCOMING HURRICANE AND CANNOT EVACUATE

DO NOT PARK YOUR CAR IN YOUR HOUSE

heavy hurricanes like helene and milton will bring floods of saltwater with them. saltwater is corrosive towards the lithium ion batteries found in ALL ELECTRIC VEHICLES and can cause the batteries to short-circuit, fail, or even explode. lithium ion fires take THOUSANDS more gallons of water to put out than normal electrical fires. they can and will burn houses down even during hurricanes.

PARK YOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON THE STREET.

[wuts-good-gatsby]

It's so frustrating to me that people see electric automobiles as a green technology. They are anything but.

[mcb3k]

A lot has changed in the world of electric vehicles over the past five years. When we analyzed EV battery health (and published the original results in this blog post) in 2019, we found EV batteries degraded, on average, at 2.3% per year. Of course, some EVs performed better and others less well, but the average was surprisingly good. In 2024, we performed a new analysis and the results indicate that EV batteries have improved significantly, degrading at 1.8% per year on average. So how long do EV batteries last? Geotab research shows that EV batteries could last 20 years or more if they degrade at an average rate of 1.8% per year, as we have observed.

source

Whoa, that's really good news!

[nando161mando]

On Electric Cars (and their shortcomings)

[yaolaser-zoey]

Basic Advantages of Prismatic Battery Modules

High energy density: prismatic battery modules can store more electricity at the same volume and weight, which means that electric vehicles can carry larger capacity battery packs and have longer driving range.

High space utilization: The cells of prismatic batteries are square in shape and can be arranged more closely together, reducing space waste and increasing the energy density of battery packs.

High safety: prismatic battery modules usually use aluminum shells, which have high strength and toughness, and can effectively prevent battery short circuits, leakage and other problems. At the same time, its strong sealing can effectively avoid aging and leakage at the seal, thereby improving the safety of the battery.

Long cycle life: prismatic battery modules have a long cycle life and can withstand multiple charge and discharge cycles while maintaining high performance stability, reducing the maintenance cost of electric vehicles.

Specific applications of prismatic battery modules in electric vehicles

As a power source: prismatic battery modules are the main power source of electric vehicles, providing electrical energy support for the vehicle and driving the vehicle. Its high energy density and long driving range enable electric vehicles to meet daily travel needs and even long-distance travel.

Building battery packs: In electric vehicles, multiple prismatic battery modules are combined into battery packs and installed at the bottom of the vehicle or other suitable locations. The battery pack is monitored and managed by the battery management system (BMS) to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the battery.

Optimizing vehicle performance: The high energy density and long cycle life of prismatic battery modules help improve the power performance and endurance performance of electric vehicles. At the same time, its lightweight design also helps to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle and improve the vehicle's energy efficiency and handling.

If you want to ask related questions or have any questions, please contact us：

mail: Zoey@huiyaolaser.com

[robpegoraro]

The major purchase I don't want to make until next year--if not later

Somebody with a 17-year-old vehicle in their driveway should be the easiest mark possible at an auto show. Any new car on display there should offer an immense advance in comfort and convenience–and an even greater leap in efficiency when the vehicle has a battery-electric drivetrain. And yet my visit Thursday to the Washington Auto Show on its public-policy day left me relieved that our 2005…

[reality-detective]

Green energy for sustainability purposes? 🤔

[horusvalley]

Cobalt Mines And Child Exploitation

A child working in mines. Image Credit: Vlad Karavaev/Shutterstock.com Big Tech and Child Exploitation in Cobalt Mines: Ethical Challenges for the Clean Energy Industry With the growing global demand for electronics and electric vehicles, cobalt is emerging as a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries used in these technologies.   While cobalt is a key part of the transition to clean energy,…

[turkeydinner-jpeg]

relogs were turned off but i so badly want this here