Archive for the ‘Battery developments’ Category


Are our EMD patents of continuing value?

October 22nd, 2008 by Alan

This is a question that is frequently asked, but one that is difficult to answer succinctly, in that our patents’ value relies on the interplay of so many factors. Accordingly, any article that will help to illustrate really well a particular source or cause of value inherent in our patents is worth featuring and commenting upon in this blog. I think that the following article meets this criterion for inclusion.

In reading a very recent article in the MIT Technology Review entitled Renault Bets on Electric Vehicles I noted an example of an important principle that I believe will help to ensure that our patents, so far as they relate to EMD production as a feedstock for battery production, will have ongoing relevance and value.

The principle is that the capital investment in existing battery technologies will slow or even stop dead the advance of new battery technologies until such time as there is an overwhelming need combined with a preparedness to pay more for the better power or other superior characteristics potentially offered by newer batteries technologies.

If you just read all but the last paragraph of the MIT article on Renault’s ZE concept car, you would be excused for concluding that this carmaker is intending to move this vehicle into production powered by a new type of Li-ion battery that has a cathode comprised of phosphate modified with trace metals. A decision that would not be good news, if viewed from the selfish perspective of a company like HiTec, which holds patents over the means of producing high purity EMD suitable for use in Li-ion batteries with manganese cathodes!

However, if one goes on to read the last paragraph of the article it notes, almost as an aside, that Renault actually intend to launch the vehicle incorporating a Li-ion battery that has a manganese cathode. You might well ask why they would propose doing this after lauding the benefits of the phosphate version. Well, there are many reasons that are not so hard to grasp when you think it through and these include:

  • The manganese variant is already in production at a truly viable scale;
  • It is a good technology that will do the job at hand admirably at an affordable cost;
  • The phosphate technology has to be brought up the development curve; and
  • Once proven technically ready for production, it then has to be financed in a context where it must compete with existing battery systems for market share.

The lesson in all this is that eventually, a better technology will replace a good technology where the need exists, as people will pay more for it. Looking backwards, no better example of this is the replacement of the zinc/carbon battery with the alkaline battery. Newer electronic devices being introduced over the last thirty years required a better battery technology for power, miniaturization, or other reasons and people became accustomed to paying more for these advantages. However this replacement exercise has taken decades rather than years and will likely take a decade or two more to be completed.

So whilst it is only one cause or driver of continuing value for our patents, it is an important one, as disposable battery systems (ie, alkaline, Li-ion/Mn) and rechargeable battery systems (ie, Li-ion/Mn from very small scale to very large) all utilizing high purity EMD, are already strongly in production or moving into production in advance of competitor systems, and the investment made in them is relentlessly raising the investment hurdle for following technologies. Not necessarily shutting the door on newer technologies, but slowing their rate of introduction to those devices and those users that simply ‘must’ have them for whatever reason.

As a side note, the Renault ZE concept car article is also of interest in that it signals that another large car maker is prepared to see the dependency link between the car and the bowser severed. The electric vehicle format was always a better solution for the vast majority of today’s drivers than the hybrid electric/combustion vehicle format and that fact is being increasingly recognised. (You can ignore the old KISS principle for a while, but if you continue to do so for too long, it will inevitably come back and smack you hard behind the ear!)

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Posted by Alan Posted in Articles, Battery developments, Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide | No Comments »


Li-ion/Manganese Battery Keeps Rolling On

July 22nd, 2008 by Alan

In amongst the hundred’s of battery articles that appear on the web every week, two separate recent articles, both about the same new application of the manganese variant of the lithium-ion battery, stood out from the crowd.  

Why was this so?  Well for me it was because this new application epitomized four key points about the whole ‘new generation’ vehicle battery debate.   The articles can be viewed via the following links:

What this new application demonstrates clearly is:

  • That the power delivered, compared to the weight of the battery, is a key factor when comparing vehicle batteries technologies. A scale that the LiMn form rates very well on.
  • That the ability to build a battery in uncoventional shapes is important. Witness the aerofoil shapes of some earlier electric bikes and the flat panels desined to keep a low centre of gravity in some car models. Not that this application is at all unconventional, being designed into the space previously taken up by the petrol engine.
  • That stability and robustness is very important for a battery technology to be generally accepted and what better way of demonstrating this than by putting it in a trail bike.
  • That straight electric applications are a much better solution than hybids, in 80%+ of all vehicle user applications, whether that be on two wheels, four wheels or more!

From the selfish perspective of a HiTec shareholder, these new applications of the lithium-ion/manganese technology, simply mean more demand for lithiated manganese dioxide and the high purity EMD from which it is produced. In turn it will mean it will mean more demand for our production technology for making high purity EMD from low grade manganese ores, which by the way is all that the EMD producers can buy in this hot manganese market, unless of course they have their own high grade mine in the backyard.

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Posted by Alan Posted in Articles, Battery developments | No Comments »


Manganese variant of the lithium-ion battery makes further inroads in transport sector

June 20th, 2008 by Alan

A recent article by Jon Ostrower for Flight International entitled “Boeing looks to boost 787 lithium ion battery service life” discussed a rumoured move by Boeing to move to the manganese variant of the lithium ion battery for its new 787 series aircraft rather than staying with the lithium ion variant (presumably cobalt) that was originally designed into this aircraft’s power systems. The article speculated that the move was “due to longevity concerns” by Boeing and US Federal Aviation Administration voiced concerns over the use of cobalt variants of lithium ion battery technology due to their exposure to over charging, overdischarging and overheating.

If this article is on the money, then this is a very significant step forward for the manganese variant of the lithium ion battery, not just in providing back up power in aviation power systems, but in all transport power systems. Such a move will further demonstrate the advantages of this technology in terms of operational safety, high power to weight ratio, enhanced longevity, lower cost and lower environmental impacts, relative to its competitors.

From HiTec’s perspective, this mooted transition from the cobalt variant of the lithium ion battery to the manganese variant is not a surprise, but merely one more step towards the manganese variant becoming the standard for the next generation of vehicles of every shape, size or purpose. With this prospect in mind, we see escalating demand for the components of this battery technology, a primary one being high purity electrolytic manganese dioxide.

To meet this increased demand EMD producers will not only have to lift investment in new production capacity (a difficult enough task for an industry that has endured a decade of parlous financial existence) but will also need to invest invest in cleaner, smarter production technology. The latter investments will be essential if tomorrow’s EMD production plants are to produce the high purity products the battery industry will demand of them, from the lower and lower grades of manganese ores that will be available and in the increasing stringent environmental regimes they will face.

It is in these areas that HiTec can offer existing and aspiring EMD producers technologies that will allow them to deliver and prosper.

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Posted by Alan Posted in Articles, Battery developments | No Comments »