Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium takes the industry into new frontiers of research
The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) aims to take technology forward to levels of performance that will ensure lead batteries remain the battery of choice in as many future electrical storage markets as possible.
In an article in the latest edition of BEST magazine ALABC President, Tim Ellis, looks at the Consortium’s achievements and sets out its plans for the future.
Tim Ellis said: “A strong manufacturing base, intellectual expertise and unmatched sustainability have made lead-acid batteries the number one choice for the worldwide energy storage market, something that will continue well into the future.”
ALABC has become one of the most successful research programmes in the energy storage industry and Mr Ellis says the Consortium will continue to take the industry into new frontiers of basic and applied research to help lead-acid maintain its dominant market position.
ALABC research has supported some major achievements for lead-acid batteries:
- Lead-acid batteries are a major player in start-stop technology with the potential to dominate the 48V hybrid revolution
- Micro-hybrid vehicles powered by advanced lead-acid battery systems are expected to have more than 50% market share by 2020
- Special carbon additives in lead-acid batteries are meeting performance requirements of start-stop and mild hybrid vehicles at a fraction of the cost of traditional nickel metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries
- A lead carbon UltraBattery tested in a Honda Civic has been driven more than 150,000 miles with no significant battery degradation
- The ALABC LC SuperHybrid demonstration vehicle has shown that significant reductions in CO2 can be achieved with lower-cost technologies based on lead carbon batteries
Mr Ellis explained that ALABC is now reaffirming its commitment to basic material science and unlike other battery chemistries, the lead-acid doesn’t need to invent new material every time the requirements change.
“The opportunity, therefore, is this: the average lead-acid cell is only using 30-40% of its capability at best”, he added.
The lead-acid industry’s outstanding success in autos is also helping to position it to succeed as new opportunities continue to emerge in telecommunications, uninterruptible power supply, motive power, residential power, utility grid and other markets. www.alabc.org
