EVHUB.IN Exclusive: Affordable EVs with no range anxiety is now reality, 800km per charge achieved

KHARAGPUR, India - July 20, 2013 - PRLog -- Dr Marco Loglio, who runs MLCA Hong Kong Ltd – a consultancy with special focus on EV batteries has spearheaded a project jointly undertaken by Vantage Power Global, a company engaged in EV R&D. In November 2012, Dr. Loglio and his team held a demonstration of its electric car fitted with lithium polymer batteries developed by Vantage Power under MLCA’s supervision. The two vehicles, based on Zotye electric cars, were driven from Shenzhen to the capital of Guangxi Province, Nanning. The total distance covered by the vehicles was 801.3km and at the end of the journey, the battery pack still had some 13% of the energy left.

The 800km EV

MLCA’s high energy density lithium polymer battery pack is at the heart of the two prototype vehicles used in the 800km demo road show. The two prototype vehicles are based on Zotye M300 and 5008 EVs respectively. The battery pack is claimed to have an energy density of more than 270Wh/Kg. Dr. Loglio would not disclose much on the battery technology, but on slight insistence, he shared that the battery is based on chemistry similar to that of Tesla battery packs, which are manufactured by Panasonic. The Tesla EV battery cells are fundamentally based on lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), which is the same chemistry used in MLCA’s batteries, though the secret to improved energy density perhaps lies in the dopant used, which is a mixture of nickel, manganese and cobalt (NCM). According to Dr. Loglio, this is the best combination, which has led to such high energy. And it is not just the ‘best’ battery chemistry. Dr. Loglio says the secret to an electric car with a range almost four times of what commercial cars achieve now also li-es in using the best mix of components including the motors and controllers.

According to Dr. Loglio, a key point that could perhaps be overlooked by mainstream carmakers is how to use the energy in an electric car most efficiently. “There is a lot of misuse of energy in cars, especially in electric cars. See Tesla: they have used a very powerful motor and a battery. So, there is a lot of energy consumption and the vehicle is heavy and expensive. Their battery pack has 8,000 cells; to keep such high number of cells under control is another task“he says.

What MLCA has done differently is use lesser number of more powerful cells. Not only 3 ampere cells, but 25 ampere cells, which allow MLCA to have a simpler battery design, which is easier to regulate. The cells, based on the LCO-NCM chemistry, are also very stable at high temperature, which is another advantage. That has also allowed MLCA to use a simpler yet sophisticated battery management system (BMS) in its battery pack. Dr. Loglio repeatedly stresses on the fact that the two demo vehicles with 800km range are not just prototypes; they are absolutely ready for road use, which means they are not ultra lightweight vehicles developed only for the sake of achieving this record range.

Dr Loglio’s approach to developing a long range electric car involves minimizing energy consumption to improve efficiency of each component, so that the overall propulsion system can be downsized. For the 5008 Zotye prototype EV, Dr. Loglio used a 15kW electric motor, while the motor in 800km (497miles) M300 prototype is 30kW. In comparison, a Nissan LEAF, which claims a range of only 160km (100 miles), has a 80kW electric motor.

Dr. Loglio believes this is also part of a marketing effort. People are already wary of using electric cars and have doubts about their performance and the distance they can travel. Automakers feel necessitated to come up with specifications which read impressive and build confidence on the vehicle’s theoretical performance. Dr. Loglio however thinks the right approach is to educate people on the merits of electric cars; on how they have much smoother pickup and a faster acceleration than traditional cars and to achieve that, one need not fit a very powerful traction system in electric cars; that’s an inherent feature of an electric drivetrain. The Zotye prototype developed by MLCA has a top speed of 140kph, good enough by regular standards, at the same time with a range that sits at par with that of gasoline cars.

When asked about how soon this 800km EV developed under his supervision can go on sale, Dr. Loglio expresses valid skepticism. “People buy vehicles based on many points, not just how much it can travel or if it is electric or gasoline”. He said.  While he has consulted through the development of the electric car, the business decisions on how to take it forward rest with Vantage Power. Needless to say, Dr. Loglio would be a part of any potential endeavor on part of Vantage Power to commercialize the technology, but he is also looking at possibilities of industrial collaboration with partners in and outside China. The country has been struggling to push its electric car market over the past few years but with little success. Dr Loglio thinks a part of the problem is that a large section of middle class Chinese population are purchasing their first vehicle, and are naturally wary of trying something new. That also brought BYD into the discussion, which according to Dr. Loglio, has produced a good electric car in e6. The problem however is with their battery technology, he claims, which is based on LFP. Dr. Loglio thinks it may not be the best chemistry for electric cars today, like it was, perhaps ten years ago. On China renewing electric car subsidies, Dr. Loglio thinks it will be done, sooner than later as the government does not intend to discontinue its efforts to boost the niche market.

As much as he is hopeful of finding the right partners in China, Dr. Loglio also claims to have many foreign proposals interested in MLCA’s battery technology. He also hints to me about an Indonesian partner firm, which could potentially be interested in setting up an electric car factory in Bandung, Indonesia’s third largest city in the Western Java province. EV development and promotion efforts in Indonesia are still at a nascent stage but the government appears keen in pushing adoption of cleaner cars in the wake of rising fuel demand and increasing pollution levels. India too is another potential market where Dr. Loglio is looking for partnerships.
Going forward, Dr. Loglio does not deny the possibility of collaborating with mainstream OEMs, potentially through a licensing agreement to use its high energy battery technology. But does MLCA’s technology hold value in terms of cost? Dr. Loglio thinks a battery pack for about 500km range can be readied for use in electric cars for about USD10,000. According to him, per kilowatt hour (kWh) price in the market for electric car batteries today stands at about USD300, which is not far from the USD250/kWh price target most automakers have fixed for the long term, say 2020.