Created April 2000 by Blane Goguen
World's First Electric Street Rod
Roadster is owned and operated by "Wilde EVolutions, Inc." based in Arizona and the state of Washington.
Moving into the new millennium we can't ignore the deep problems associated with fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) as the primary means to power our society. Consider the problems caused by pollution alone and you can see why we must look for alternative energy sources. Even when we try to clean up fossil fuel contamination we create more problems as seen in the recently imposed MTBE regulations. Plus our reliance on fossil fuel deposits in places like the Middle East contributes to world instability.Finally, if we continue to use oil at the current rate the simple fact is that we will run out of oil deposits in the next 100 years!
Task:
The Honda Insight is a Hybrid Electric-Gasoline Car
Whittier Trade Management Classes are building an electric car. Our task is to determine which the many different types of battery technologies that exist, which will best power the vehicle? A second question concerns future development of cars not using fossil fuels. Is there a better technology than batteries such as fuel cells? What are the advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells?
Process:
You will work in groups of four. Your group will research the web sites listed below as well as links within these web sites and explore of battery technology. You will investigate details such as cost, recharge capability, size (remember, this battery will fit in an electric car the size of a go-cart) and other information you think is important to determine whether this battery will work in an electric car. You will prepare a slide presentation, oral or written report describing the technology and explaining why this technology would or would not work for the Trade Management electric car.Your presentation should include the following:
- Introduction -Describe the battery technology you have chosen
- Chemistry - Describe the chemical reactions involved including chemical equations for the cathode and the anode.
- Advantages and Disadvantages - Describe costs, size, rechargability, hazardous materials required and other factors.
- Conclusion - Apply the advantages and disadvantages to determine feasibility to power an electric car.
- New Technologies - Compare battery technology in general to fuel cell technology.
Resources:
The following is a list Web Sites for your research. You may want to review your "Battery Chemistry" packet once again to get an overview before you start your research. Your research is not limited to the sites below but, don't get bogged down looking for your report online. Take information from many sites to construct a report.Battery Web Sites:
Oregon State University Oerlikon Battery Battery Engineering How Batteries Work Ingenuity, Inc. Institute of Biomedical Engineering Duracell Fuel Cells Web Sites:
Future Battery Technologies Fuel Cells 2000 US Fuel Cell Council
Conclusion:
You now have a deeper understanding of application of battery chemistry. You also should have a deeper appreciation for our need to develop alternate energy sources. Finally, you should realize is that each battery technology has roots in the that controlled the Zinc-Copper cell you constructed in the lab.
You can contact Blane at bgoguen@massed.net
