General Electric has announced a breakthrough in the electrification of buses, trucks, and other large vehicle fleets.
Their hybrid systems research team demonstrated a new dual-battery system pairing a high-power lithium battery with a high-energy sodium battery.
A stumbling block for traditional battery design is the trade-off between power and storage; GE's dual-battery system relies on the lithium battery to provide acceleration power, and the sodium battery for energy storage to boost a vehicles driving range.
Essentially, each battery "does what it does best."
At this point, the electric, zero-emissions bus tops out at around 50 mph and has a range of up to 80 miles. The goal is to boost those figures to 62 mph and 100 miles, respectively.
Here's a peek at the bus in action:
“We’re entering a decade of unprecedented activity and developments in electrified transportation,” Lembit Salasoo, a senior GE electrical engineer, noted in a press release.
“With heavier vehicle platforms, both energy storage and power are a premium to deliver optimal vehicle performance, but the exact needs can vary based on a vehicle’s size and drive cycle. The beauty of our dual battery system is that it can be scaled to deliver just the right combination of power and storage.”
GE claims the dual-system can reduce costs by up to 20%, since it provides the flexibility to integrate cheaper battery chemistries without having to actually increase battery size.
The battery is a result of GE's $13 million research project with the Federal Transit Administration and the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium.
The company is currently researching partnership opportunities to implement the new technology.
With hundreds of thousands of U.S. city buses traveling under 100 miles a day, a battery with that kind of power and range could put a serious dent in the nations Co2 emissions.
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