Why is Ni-MH batteries not used in Electric cars?

[kanamu]

Ni-MH is a better battery than Ni-Cd or led acid battery, but cheaper than Li-ion, why is it not used in electric cars then? i have them at home AA AAA size, its cheap and hold more capacity batteries, seems that is have found my answer,

If you think its a conspiracy theory by oil companies trying to hold battery technology...... Well.... you are right.

Who Owns The Patent On That Battery in My Electric Car?

You ever wonder what is holding back the development of All Electric Vehicles? I’d point to battery technology. Specifically it has a lot to do with battery technology. Large nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries to be exact.

Here’s some interesting history:
“In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics’s battery development and manufacturing, including patents controlling the manufacturing of large nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. In 2001, Texaco purchased GM’s share in GM Ovonics. A few months later, Chevron acquired Texaco. In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics. Chevron’s influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics. Chevron also maintains veto power over any sale or licensing of NiMH technology. In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys’ intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations.” via Wikipedia

Much of what holds up the development of Electric Cars is patents that are held by one of the world’s largest oil companies.

Who Owns The Patent On That Battery in My Electric Car?

The Ni-MH battery powered car was so successful that all electric cars running on it must be destroyed at all cost.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDRBRuvct54"]RAV4-EV Battery story - part one (1) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM8TvhVE8uc"]EV is here now but hidden from Obama by Chevron GM - YouTube[/ame]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV

[niky]

NiMH is not at the forefront of battery technology. Lithium Ion and Lithium Air are the future.

You can block one specific patent, but you can't stop people from developing other control modes for NiMH.

[ghosthunter]

Technically there are problems with NiMH batteries.

Energy density is one problem. Although cheaper, you would need more batteries to go the same distance. That extra weight can reduce the effective range of the vehicle than add to it.

Cycle life is another issue. People want long-term maintenance-free electric cars. "Long term" would mean around 8 to 10 years. If you have to replace the battery pack every 2 years, it would make operating the EV car more expensive than a petrol powered car.

[niky]

To be fair... NiMH batteries lasted a long time in the Prius... but that was down to very clever battery management and a system that didn't allow the batteries to be discharged fully. Older Honda hybrids with NiMH have lifespan issues with the battery packs.

Sure, removing the lock on the control of that particular NiMH technology would allow its use in EVs, but most EV manufacturers are pushing for Li-Ion for a reason... energy density is everything, and NiMH simply doesn't have enough for mainstream buyers.

GM may have been self-defeating in the EV1 debacle, ultimately scrapping it because the upper management wanted to focus on other projects, but the main complaint of GM with the EV1 project was true: Too expensive. The EV1 cost $100k US back in the day... heavily subsidized down into the $30k - $40k range. For the record, that's twice the cost of a regular four-door compact of the time.

Now GM could have simply held on to the patent and production line, kept on making cars at a loss, (losing about $60k per car for the first year, then about $30k for each car after, after they defrayed the costs) and waited till increased production finally saw them break even. The millions sunk into customer subsidies on top of the billion dollars sunk into development costs could have been written off as advertising losses... used to project a green image. But the company ultimately didn't want to go that way. Can't blame them. Nobody wants to sell at a huge loss.

Toyota persevered, despite losing money, and they're now making a profit on Prii. Yet that was a car which, at an estimated $25k to produce at the time Toyota was selling them for $19k, was much much cheaper to market than a pure electric, with a built-in subsidy of only around $6k. And even then, it barely hit the volume Chevron was requiring of automakers in order to produce the battery packs en masse.

If Chevron had actually supplied packs in bulk without requiring a minimum order, I don't see that that would have changed history much. Perhaps with mass production, the total cost per vehicle of electrics would have gone down from the $50-100k range to the $40-$50k range (which would be around $50k- plus today... still expensive).

Even without the Ovonic battery, another automaker might have built its own NiMH technology and tested it... eventually putting it into production... right? Well... one did... Honda built its own EV with proprietary NiMH technology. And they didn't sell it, either. They calculated MSRP at $50k and leased it, like GM did... then scrapped the entire fleet, like GM did, when the program ended. It was simply too small, too expensive and too limited for general consumers.

But do people protest at Honda's doors like they do with GM? Of course not. Because Honda builds "economical" cars like the Civic and Jazz/Fit, whereas GM builds trucks.

Sometimes, perception and bias are everything.

[ghosthunter]

To be fair... NiMH batteries lasted a long time in the Prius... but that was down to very clever battery management and a system that didn't allow the batteries to be discharged fully. Older Honda hybrids with NiMH have lifespan issues with the battery packs.

Notice NIKY mentioned "HYBRID" and not electric cars. It simply means NiMH does not have the range capacity for mainstream car buyers. Of course there would be EV car diehards who would put up with the limited range of NiMH batteries but there isn't really enough "greenies" to justify production & marketing of a niche market car.