It seems like atomic number 3 - ion batteries are everywhere these days , in the tiny portable electronics and the big electric cars . These rechargeable powerhouses will soon be installed in intercrossed vehicles , too , supersede the atomic number 28 metal hydride ( NiMH ) batteries used most often in the hybrids of the retiring decade .
Though atomic number 3 - ion ( Li - ion ) battery have been expensive in the past times , as more of them are made , they become less expensive to cook up . In the longsighted run , as more and more lithium - ion cells are make , car manufacturer can lower the cost of intercrossed cars until the prices are confining to that of conventional gas - powered car [ author : HybridCars ] .
The magnanimous reward in lithium - ion technology is its power to be rapidly reload , which is exactly what ’s take in intercrossed driving . The world power store in the batteries is easy tapped and readily useable , and when technology like regenerative braking is factor in into the equating , the electric cell can be recharged rather cursorily .
With atomic number 3 - ion technology so frequently in the news , it ’s easy to forget that these batteries are n’t being used much in vehicles – not yet , anyway . The latest generation of loanblend , like the Chevy Volt and Fisker Karma , use Li - ion electric battery mobile phone . But the hybrid we ’ve fall to know and love over the years , including the Toyota Prius , Honda CR - Z and Ford Escape , still apply NiMH barrage packs .
Keep reading to find out how these types of battery heap up against each other .
Lithium-ion vs. Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries
The most obvious difference between Li - ion and NiMH batteries is the material used to store great power . atomic number 3 - ion battery are made of carbon and extremely reactive Li , which can store a lot of energy . Nickel metallic element hydride battery practice hydrogen to store free energy , with nickel and another alloy ( such as atomic number 22 ) keep a hat on the hydrogen ions .
With these unlike structures there are , of course , several hard-nosed differences , too :
Cost : Nickel metal hydride batteries are , right now , the less - expensive engineering . As output of lithium - ion cell ramps up , though , saving of scale add up into shimmer and the cost of Li - ion cubicle should drip . When more vehicles require more batteries , each single battery becomes less expensive to make up .
weight unit : NiMH batteries are large and heavier than Li - ion barrage fire . system of weights thing in intercrossed car , since the battery power will have to master the vehicle ’s inertia ( without any aid from the gas engine ) for maximal mileage . Lighter assault and battery packs with higher push denseness make it easier to get the auto extend .
Power : Li - ion and NiMH batteries can in reality hold a similar amount of power , but the lithium - ion cells can be charged and discharged more rapidly . Li - ion also does n’t have as much of a " memory board effect , " which happens when a battery is reload before it is amply empty . This can decrease a battery ’s capacity . atomic number 3 - ion barrage are less affected by memory effect than NiMH batteries are [ source : Hitachi ] .
enduringness : While both case of batteries are perdurable and both have been in function for years in various applications programme , this is the one country where NiMH has an reward . Some Li - ion batteries do n’t last as long in uttermost temperature , particularly in very red-hot climates . But manufacturers are work to better the chemistry to make the Li - ion batteries last as long as the vehicles they power .
For more info about intercrossed car , electric battery and other related topics , follow the tie-in on the next pageboy .
