As far as I know, the Obama Administration has done nothing whatsoever about the NiMH battery situation. For all of the energy and money they have put into promoting clean renewable domestically-produced energy and energy efficiency, when it came down to it, they have had nearly six months in office and have not taken a shot at even mentioning or discussing the Oil-Company-Stultified excellent tried-and-true energy storage technology.
I was reviewing the specs of the Lithium-powered vehicles that are apparently coming to market over the next few months. In some cases coming "to market" is a bit of a stretch, but we'll see a few hundred vehicles on the road, here or there, basically in the hands of fleets... that sort of thing. ... Some of the specs are not actually that impressive, and some are. Whereas some NiMH-powered vehicles were traveling well more than 100 miles on a charge, at highway speeds, in the 1990s, the Lithium-powered offerings from Subaru and Mitsubishi from 2009 don't seem to be there, or seem to struggle to match those numbers. To form a counter-point, we know that a good Lithium-Powered car from Tesla or BMW or others would at least bring out the strengths that Lithium offers, such as excellent range and low weight.
I'm a fan of Lithium vehicles, and I hope they'll work out. In the meantime, they are going to market with a prime proven-reliable competitor (NiMH-powered-vehicles) apparently not allowed to compete fully.
As far as I've been able to tell in my research so far, no mention has been made by anyone in the Obama Administration (or by anyone in policy-making for that matter) of the NiMH Battery situation. You can't fix what you can't discuss. Perhaps they think they can just close their eyes and hope for the best and everything will be ok? Maybe some think that Lithium vehicles will be produced in the hundreds of millions without any economic issues relating to a lack of competition or insufficient resources?
Cobasys has been financially dying on the vine in Michigan for a year or two or more, with its workers' future in limbo, and yet no policy-maker wants to talk about this? I thought policy-makers liked to talk about jobs? ECD and Chevron have been collaborating quietly to keep non-US companies from doing much with NiMH batteries suitable for highway-capable BEVs, and yet no policy-maker has anything to say about this? I thought they wanted to say they cared about energy policy and "energy independence".
One specific idea perhaps worth pursuing would be to work to try to discover a White Knight to purchase financially troubled Cobasys. If this course were pursued, at least two important things would have to be kept in mind. First, we should not be naive: the joint venture owners of Cobasys might try to harm the company's battery production rights and business (even more?) if it is being pried away. Second, prying Cobasys from its owners would not by any means solve all problems. Cobasys has North American exclusive production rights to batteries of a certain type, I believe, but they are not the basic patent holders. So, the global licensing situation would still need to be addressed.
A funny thing is that I hear some of the same arguments from both sides: Lithium batteries are too resource constrained we are told. Then again, Rare Earth Metal investing seems to be driven largely these days by the idea that we will have to turn to NiMH traction batteries whose rare earth element ingredients are also not the most abundant things around.
What if this suppression of NiMH battery technology had occured in smaller batteries? What if the extraordinarily quick advances in laptops and cameras and cell phones had been held up by some artificial oil company nonsense? Would we have stood for it if we had been told that we had to wait for a laptop until Lithium Ion was worked out because NiMH batteries weren't available or weren't good enough?
I see there is a new book on Amazon.com which seeks to address itself to the NiMH battery situation, and the EV situation. I haven't read it, so I can't venture an opinion, but I am mentioning it for EV fans.
Two Cents per Mile: Will President Obama Make it Happen WITH THE STROKE OF A PEN? (Paperback)
by Nevres Cefo
There also seems to be a web page to petition the Obama Administration to do something about the NiMH battery situation.
dcmonitor.com
The web page in my view is a bit too focused on the idea that hydrogen is the false-promise answer being held up to us. I think we're going forward with Lithium Ion Batteries, and in the end they will work somewhat. Heck, if I were an auto designer, I'd probably have to favor designing in Lithium batteries over NiMh batteries.
Yet, aren't automakers concerned with product durability and reliability and safety? Isn't NiMH technology in some ways more proven than LIthium technology in these areas for use in cars?
A problem, as I see it, is that even assuming Lithium is in many ways superior to NiMH technology, competition is still significantly constrained and this is bad for all concerned and is likely further to delay the necessary cost-effective implementation of much-more-efficient and cleaner transportation.
It's good to see Mr. Cefo out there trying to get the Obama adminsitration to step in and really make things happen on NiMH batteries. I'm not holding my breath for anyone (anywhere) in the Obama adminsitration to do anything. You can't fix what you aren't willing to mention. To this day, no policy-maker of prominence, in or outside the Administration, of whom I am aware, has so much as publicly mentioned the NiMH battery situation.
Disclaimer: I have a modest indirect interest in the fortunes of companies that make all manner of traction batteries, including lead-acid, NiMH and Lithium-Ion.
