Gallery: GM’s New Battery Could Extend EV Driving Range To 200 Miles


With a total driving range of less than 100 miles, today’s electric cars do not represent a complete alternative to a traditional gas or diesel-powered car. General Motors is reportedly developing new technology that would boost an electric car’s range up to 200 miles on a single charge. GM CEO Dan Akerson recently stated that the GM-backed Envia Systems has made a huge breakthrough in the amount of energy a lithium-ion battery can hold.

The Newark, CA-based company and GM estimate that the new battery can power an electric car up to 100 miles, but their goal is to reach 200 miles between charges. “I think we’ve got better than a 50-50 chance to develop a car that will go to 200 miles on a charge,” Akerson said. “That would be a game changer.”

Currently, GM’s Chevy Volt can only travel up to 35 miles on a single charge, before its range-extender engine kicks in. Tesla has managed to get more than 100 miles out of its electric models, but its battery packs are larger and much more expensive than the unit that powers the Volt. Envia Systems also stated earlier this year that the new battery technology will be much cheaper than the current lithium-ion units, which would dramatically drop the prices of future electric vehicles.

General Motors hopes that the new battery technology will be ready in the next two to four years.

+ General Motors

via PhysOrg


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  1. krawmn August 31, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    bthinker, I agree with you on N. Tesla and the economics of growth-paradigm economics in which companies rely upon waste and the dependency of consumers. do you have a website recommendation for tech news? Want to channel N. Tesla with me?

  2. bthinker bthinker August 10, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    The Volt is a heavy inefficient piece of crap. The MIEV uses the same amount of battery and gets 250%(40vs100)miles out of a charge. Leave it up to american automakers to move in to the future dragging the past along(the engine). The fact is EEstor made a 500 MPC ultracapacitor/battery about 5 years ago. The boys at Lockheed bought it’s right before it became automotive to use for their next generation KILL packs.. Regardless of that, MIT’s next generation Lithium Ion porous batteries will be doubling this advance when compared to today. Just to note, a prius over a cars life span of 250,000 is far more environmental then a Volt as well as cheaper. 15-18KWH vs a 3KWh battery with a paired engine, the prius battery is primarily breaking recaptured inertia. The Volt burns coal and gasoline essentially instead.. Not a win. I don’t think people get, slightly more efficiency is worthless, we need some Nikola Tesla tech to re-emerge he gave us all the energy answers we needed by 1894, and then none of them came to be because sustianablity wasn’t good for profit. Anyone who doesn’t realize those with power willingly hold back the advancement technologically as a species is blind. Tesla was able to wifi energy to any object and not just that, he as willing to simply mine this energy from the ionosphere, FREE WIFI energy, to anyone that turns on a reciever. It was even built, then demolished by investors who would sell all their wiring, and had a huge problem with giving away free power to all. Cause if its free how will they enslave us? How will they feel above us? How will they feel important? And that ladies and gentlemen, is the truth of the downfall of the modern man. Regardless of denying us Free Energy, Tesla invented the radio, xray, remote controlled device, turbine generator, induction motor, and oh yeah, THE AC CURRENT(our power, and died with books full of the future no one was willing to build without a penny in the bank and in debt, alone in a small apartment..

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