Australian researchers discover new way to spruce up old battery technology.

CSIRO researchers in Melbourne Australia have developed a new version of lead-acid battery that is cheap, and can store large amounts of energy like the current nickel-metal hydride batteries used in cars such as the Toyota Prius.

The current battery set-up works better than lead-acid because lead-acid batteries form corrosive deposits when they are charged and used repeatedly over a short period of time, and they lose their long life of power, making them break-down in a sense.

The researchers have combined a lead-acid battery with a capacitor to reduce the corrosion on the batteries metal plates.  Making the lead-acid batteries last as long as nivkel-metal hydrid ones.

“By acting as a buffer during charging and discharging, the capacitor boosts the battery’s life to match that of NiMH batteries,” The company reported.

The new battery is said to boost power output by fifty percent ad last four times as long as a standard lead-acid bettery.  A test vehicle has drivin more than 185,000 km’s  with the prototype batteries installed. 

The cost of the battery is projected to be a third of the current battery costs in current hybrid auto’s.  The battery is slated for production in 2009 in the US.

Smith Electric Vehicles which isbased in Britain, are showing off an all-electric plug-in delivery truck that recharges within four and a half to six hours.  Designed for urban environments, the truck has a range of 130 to 150 miles per complete recharge and a top driving speed of 50mph.  Smith Electric Vehicles plans to begin selling the hybrid delivery vehicles in the US beginning 2009.  The demand for such a type of vehicle is very large, due to the looming environmental crisis, and the need for fleet managers to reduce the cost of shipping via any means possible.  The price of Gasoline and diesel is at a all-time high, causing panic that shipping companies will increase their rates to stay afloat.  Hybrid vehicles such a this one by Smith Electric Vehicles are the first part of a solution to this problem.

Ford Motor Co. will receive a $10 million dollar grant from the US Energy Department to continue a $20 million dollar development program for plug-in Hybrid automobiles.  This consists of 20 plug-in Hybrid Auto’s, and the steps needed to convert the fleet from prototypes to comercialization.

Ford is working on a fleet of Escape plug-in hybrids in a partnership with Southern California Edison, the Electric Power Research Institute, Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions LLC and DTE Energy.

Toyota started a public trial of some plug-in Toyota Prius models in the UK, which if successful could let the plug-in Prius owners sell the surplus electricity they produce back into the power grid.

The conversion bring s a larger battery pack into the Prius, as well as the ability to plug the car into a 240V household circuit.  The trial is scheduled to run for atleast a year, involving user feedback, infrastructure set-up and usability testing.  Toyota is also planning on selling plug-in versions of the Toyota Prius that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are said to last longer thasn the current nickel-metal hydride battery packs.

The Toyota prius’s main stumbling block as a profitable automobile, is the cost of the battery packs used to give it such great fuel economy. To counter-act this, Toyota Plans to eventually bring production of the hybrid battery packs into north america.

Toyota plans to bring the profit margin of the Prius closer to that of a non-hybrid Toyota Corolla sedan.  This is just one of the cost cutting measures they plan to put into place to acheive this.

On the other hand, Chevrolet and it’s Chevy Volt electric car, states that they plan on losing money initially with each hybrid vehicle they sell, because of the high cost of the battery packs.  Toyota is smart enough to combat this by bringing the production into North America where the majority of the cars are being sold.

On a final note, Toyota has also announced that it will be unveiling a dedicated hybrid vehicle for it’s upscale Lexus brand at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

After releasing a couple new photos of their highly anticipated plug-in hybrid car, GM says this will be it’s first real foray into extended range electric vehicle driving.

GM reports that the plug-in Volt will drive up to 40 miles on battery power alone, before requiring it’s gasoline engine to kick in.  GM has been testing the Volt’s powertrain and plug-in battery system for the last several months, in several different body types, but has not yet publicly released production photo’s of the Volt to the public yet.  The design for the new Volt is done, it just hasn’t been released.  This new electric plug-in vehicle, the Chevy Voly, is supposed to hit the showrooms in 2010.

Nissan Altima Hybrids are a little hard to find right now, so get your hands on one if there happens to be a dealer nearby that has it in stock.  This car gets 34 miles per gallon, and is a very nice car, and does not look anything like a hybrid.  The hybrid technology in the Altima is shared with the Toyota Camry Hybrid, although this Altima’s tech has been adjusted to give the drivers even better in the city mileage, but that is made possible by making highway mileage not as great.  however, a great car.

The Smart ForTwo is compact, sporty, and you can literally park it just about anywhere!  It averages 36 miles per gallon, and at a starting price of only $11500, you simply cant go wrong!  Though the car takes very little fuel, it only sports a 1 liter threee cylinder motor, making it able to drive a long way between fill ups.

Ford’s Escape Hybrid averages 32 miles per gallon, which is very good for a sport utility vehicle.  Although this figure is for the front wheel drive only, it is the most fuel efficient sport utility that you can buy.  If you’re into these things still, I mean, it’s up to you.

Last, but not least, Toyota’s Yaris.  This car averages 32 miles per gallon. this is a budget entry car, priced just above $11000, and is a great car if you’re looking to save some gas.  Isn’t that what all these cars are about?  The Yaris is a sporty youthful car, not as luxurious as th Nissan Altima or Camry Hybrids, however, at this price you can’t go wrong.

If you are looking into buying a new car, there are so many options for you to choose from right now. The hybrids of course are out there, but there are still a few other models that will save you lots of cash at the gas pump, and still be sporty enough to drive without giving up the luxury you’ve become accustomed to.

First up, the Honda Civic GX.  This car gets an overall fuel rating of 28 miles per gallon, making it a contender in this article.  However, this Honda does not run on gas, it runs on compressed natural gas, which will save you even more money.  Honda also provides a kit that lets you tap into your home’s natural gas supply, in case you don’t have a natral gas dealer station nearby.

Next up, the Toyota Prius.  We all have heard of the Prius, as it’s the first car that comes to mind when talking about Hybrids.  It gets an average of 46 miles per gallon, and costs around $21000 to buy from a dealer.  You can NOT go wrong with a toyota prius, our favorite car here at cheap-gas-cars.

The Honda Civic Hybrid gets a decent 42 miles per gallon,  while using electric motors to recharge a battery pack that helps out the little 1.3 liter motor.  The best part about the Civic Hybrid, it qualifies for a federal tax credit in the sum of $2100.

Next up, the Toyota Camry Hybrid.  Averaging 34 miles per gallon, this is a very nice car that doesn’t scream “hybrid!”.   While driving, your instrument gauges, mainly the speedometer and fuel economy ones, will glow brighter as your fuel economy increases, according to your driving habits.  This is a very cool features that should be highlighted on the other vehicles.

I’ll present some more fuel efficient vehicles in tomorrows edition of cheap gas cars.

The company, named EQO, has gotten into the car rental game, with a twist.  It will only rent electric hybrid vehicles.

They are targeting more affluent customers, inlcuding celebrities, eco-conscious groups, and concept car afficionados.  The vehicles they plan to carry in their rental line-up include the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Lexus LS 600h L, GMC Yukon, Chevy Taho, Nissan Altima, and Toyota Highlander Hybrids.  It will cost you fifty nine dollars for the Prius, and climb all the way up to six hundred and fifty dollars for the Lexus. 

They have stated to have plans to broaden their electric vehicle line-up to include hybrids such as the Chevy Volt, Cadillac Escalade, Smart car, and Porsche hybrids.  This new company plans to expand into more high-end hybrids as well.  This would be a great way for peple who have never driven a hybrid to get out there and spend the day in one before they make a plunge to buy.