[PLUG-TALK] Electric cars and Wall Street

[Aaron Burt]

On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 09:47:14AM -0700, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:44:11 -0700
> Aaron Burt <aaron at bavariati.org> dijo:
> >I hope A123 muddles through.  They developed the (excellent) LiFePO4
> >chemistry, but now everyone makes cells based on it.
> 
> Does anyone know anything about the iron-phosphate battery. BYD Auto is
> using it in their E6:

Yeah, that's LiFePO4, AKA LFP, LiPo or Lithium Iron Phosphate.  It's
perfect for large-scale consumer packs.  Qualities (vs. Lithium Cobalt):
* No exotic or poisonous materials to source or recycle
* Longer life, with more consistent performance than other technologies
* Does not catch fire when abused

It looks like the new Lithium Titanate anode technology is compatible with
LFP cathode tech, which would give a battery with all of LFP's qualities,
and with ultracapacitor-like surge performance.
Looks like ALTI might be working that angle, along with revenues from
licensing their renal-failure treatment.

Oh, and A123 got a nice contract with GM last month.

> The E6 is not a motorcycle, but they claim it can do 85 mph and go
> 186 miles on a charge. Wish I could buy one.

Me too.

> Warren Buffet recently bought a 10% interest in BYD (BYDDY:OTC).

Smart man.  And very impressive that he was able to buy such a large share
of a Chinese company.