Nissan working on battery to double LeafÂ’s range
JAPAN - I'm starting to think that electric car buyers will suffer from the same problem as buyers of consumer electronics: It seems like something better is always around the corner, so why buy now?
The Nissan Leaf EV isn't even on the market yet that its technology is starting to sound passé. The Nikkei reports that Nissan is almost done working on a new battery cell design that could almost double the range of the Leaf, and of other future Nissan electric cars.
This is exciting news, and I'm glad to see that Nissan didn't just dip its toe in the EV world but is actually putting some serious resources into R&D. Few things can have a bigger impact on the electrification of transportation than fast progress in battery technology.
Nissan is raising capacity by improving the positive electrode, specifically, using nickel and cobalt, not only manganese. The new battery can store about twice as much electricity as batteries with positive electrodes made only from manganese. It is robust enough for practical use, able to withstand 1,000 or so charge cycles.
Nissan estimates that the battery will cost about the same as conventional lithium ion ones to produce, as it contains only a small amount of cobalt, a relatively expensive metal.
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FERC needs to review capacity market performance, GAO recommends
WASHINGTON - Capacity markets may or may not be functioning properly, but FERC can't adequately make that determination, according to the GAO report.
"Available information on the level of resource adequacy ... and related costs in regions with and without capacity markets is not comprehensive or consistent," the report found. "Moreover, consistent data on historical trends in resource adequacy and related costs are not available for regions without capacity markets."
The review concluded that FERC collects some useful information in regions with and without capacity markets, but GAO said it "identified problems with data quality, such as inconsistent data."
GAO included three recommendations, including…