On Monday I wrote about odd new devices that would help big trucks meet new standards for heavy vehicles’ fuel economy that are expected to be issued any day now. Also expected imminently were new corporate average fuel economy (known as CAFE) standards for cars, pickups, minivans and S.U.V.’s.
Rules announced last year already required that cars get an average of 35.5 miles per gallon starting in the 2016 model year. And as with trucks, a variety of technologies are emerging from the labs to improve fuel economy.
For cars, one obvious strategy is to have the engine shut down whenever the car stops at a red light. That requires quickly starting the engine when the light turns green, and that means frequent discharges of large amounts of current.
This is a challenge for most batteries on the market. Most lithium-ion batteries can store lots of energy but cannot charge or discharge quickly. Lead-acid batteries can deliver the required amount of power, but not thousands of times over the lifetime of a car.
Read the entire article at the: NY Times Green Blog
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.