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Test Appears to Back Range Claim for Battery - NYTimes.com http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/new-test-appears-to-back-range-claim-for-battery/

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Rainer Jensen/DPA The German economics minister, Rainer Bruederle(second from right), inspects the Kolibri-powered Audi A2 after its arrival in Berlin last October.

Makers of batteries for plug-in vehicles are in something of a tight spot. They are under considerable pressure to improve their products so thatelectric vehicles will be attractive to more drivers. But if they actually manage to come up with a radically improved battery, their breakthrough islikely to be met with skepticism — perhaps dealing a permanent blow to their reputation.

Which brings us to DBM Energy, Lekker Energie and their converted Audi A2, powered by a Kolibri battery, which — according to DBM —traveled 375 miles without a recharge last fall. If such exceptional range didn’t inspire skepticism on its own, the fact that the A2 test car wassubsequently destroyed in a warehouse fire (while sparing the battery used in the test) surely did the trick.

The inspection organization Dekra has done independent tests for DBM and, once again, the pack seems as good as promised. In a press release,DBM said Dekra tested a 63 kilowatt-hour Kolibri battery, which uses lithium-metal-polymer battery cells, in an A2 on a chassis dynamometer. Itfound that the car was capable of traveling 455 kilometers, about 283 miles, on a single charge.

This may seem too good to be true — especially given some claims that the pack will cost thousands of dollars less than those from other batterycompanies — but the miles-per-kilowatt-hour rating is not that out of line with packs that are on the road today in the Tesla Roadster.

Tesla’s lithium-ion pack has a capacity of 56 kilowatt-hours and has an official range of 245 miles. That works out to be 4.38 miles per kilowatt-hour.

The Kolibri offers 4.49 miles per kilowatt-hour. This alone doesn’t prove that the Kolibri works as advertised, but suggests that it’s not as outrageousas some make it out to be.


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T t A t B k R Cl i f B tt NYTi htt // h l bl ti /2011/04/07/ t t t b k l i f b tt /



DBM also subjected some of the Kolibri’s cells to safety tests, this time conducted in January by the German Federal Institute for Materials Researchand Testing, known as BAM. After the eight tests were completed, BAM said the cells “easily passed the entire range of tests” and confirmed that theKolibri is safe enough to use in passenger and commercial vehicles.

The latest test results should help DBM move forward with the full-scale field trial planned for this year. The results may also stoke the fires of

skepticism, but what else is new?

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Electric Vehicles, Audi A2, DBM Energy, Kolibri, Lekker Energie, Tesla

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Test Appears to Back Range Claim for Battery NYTimes com http://wheels blogs nytimes com/2011/04/07/new test appears to back range claim for battery/



Next Post Companies to Offer Plug-In Conversions10 Readers' Comments

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1.Max RobespierreCordeliersApril 7th, 20119:36 pmI'll believe it when I can go down to my local dealer and buy a car with this technology for, say, $20k.Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers2.

Andrew LeePhiladelphia, PAApril 7th, 20119:36 pmAnd the Germans are set to win the battery race now too? Because the U.S. needs to stop investing in research and engineering and education andinnovation just so we can cut our deficit (according to a powerful few, who fancy themselves modern day Herbert Hoovers). This all so that we canlet others lead? I guess biofuels is just preparing us all for our return to work as an agrarian society in the near future.Sorry. I guess this was a positivestory on German battery technology. Yeah Germany.

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers3.eDDieBBayside, NYApril 7th, 20119:37 pmAccording to Fox fan boys, hybrid technology is totally useless; as the owner of two hybrid vehicles (Mariner, Highlander) I have to say I totally lovethe technology. I'm mostly impressed with the Highlander's smoothness and great fuel mileage (28mpg), Mariner is good (25MPG) but not as smoothalthough being smaller and lighter than the Highlander.Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers


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Previous Post New Program at Stanford Focuses on the Automobile Next Post Companies to Offer Plug-In Conversions

most families are two-car now, but it's important to realize that our dependence upon the automobile and reduction in road congestion is only going tobe reduced in steps, and one step would seem to be going back to one car per family, with an increased reliance upon mass transit to pick up theslack. Buying a vehicle that CAN'T be your primary vehicle flies in the face of that. I see plug-in electrics as remedying somewhat our energyproblem and ADDING to our road congestion problem.Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers

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