Power Failure: McCain's Batteries Are Flat

When politicians really want to show us their ignorance, they pretend to be entrepreneurs. That's certainly what John McCain has done now. A $300 million prize for a "battery package" (whatever that is) that reduces the costs of an automobile by thirty percent sounds great, but really it's no more than cowardly posturing.

Think about it. Can you seriously imagine that there aren't companies out there working overtime on new battery technologies? Of course there are. Boston-Power to name but one. They're working on it because the real prize is worth a lot more than McCain's $300 million.

But even if McCain's did inspire some breakthrough -- would that do the trick? No, what you'd need is a car company to adopt it. It's not the technology, stupid -- that's the (relatively) easy part. The hard part is everything that comes next: persuading car manufacturers to use the invention, to pay a fair price for it, not to monopolize it, to enable the inventor(s) to make enough profit that the technology continues to develop. Oh, and then there's the really hard part: building a car that uses this new battery that consumers actually like.

The track record of US car companies is lamentable on all these fronts. They've virtually forgotten how to make cars Americans love and trust. They're notorious for their vendor relationships. And they don't play nice with one another. It's why the industry as a whole looks like a relic from the gilded age -- because that's what it is.

McCain's clearly no better an historian than he is an industrialist. Citing the Longitude Prize as his inspiration, he clearly forgot that it took fifty-nine years before the Longitude Board awarded their prize to John Harrison. And that was after the Board had become a byword for favoritism and corruption. Romantics may remember the story as the triumph of the little guy against the odds; others remember it as a story in which the establishment did everything it could to squash new thinking and protect old friends. Is that really what McCain's after -- cash for cronies?

Nor does McCain come out of this latest brainstorm as a great engineer. Note: he says nothing about the ecological consequences of the technology he wishes to inspire. He speaks merely of cost, wanting us all to be able to maintain our lifestyle -- just pay less. It's a cowardly sop, dodging the truly hard truths around energy consumption and climate change: We are all going to have to change our habits and we are all going to have to pay the price. And $300 million dollars won't be anywhere near enough to buy our way out.

Comments

[EricArthurBlair]

The easiest way to get the government to back technological development is to convince them it serves their goals.

The easiest way to make that technology affordable is to find a way to use it to make toys.

Case in point: the government supported the solid-state electronics industry in the 1960s because they needed lightweight equipment to keep the Soviets from embarrassing us in the space race - their rockets were much more powerful than ours.

Solid-state electronics became cheap when the video game explosion encouraged chip producers to ramp up mass production. That's why we have $300 PCs today.

The government will support battery technology when the Pentagon can use it to kill or the NSA can use it to eavesdrop. It will become cheap when it powers frivoloties.

[turkeyfish]

The notion that we should expect highway speeds to increase is ludicrous. We can install rocket engines on all vehicles, so they can get the same good fuel economy as the space shuttle? To think that greater speed will result in "greater return on your investment" is to live permanently in fantasy land. We can't even afford to put fuel in school buses now and some fool wants to shift to rocket motors? Its clear, science education in the US has declined to dangerous levels. Those who think otherwise need to take a physics class.

Besides, just what top priority national security mission will be accomplished at a particular destination that couldn't be accomplished by the average driver half an hour later? Is that extra 15 minutes worth forcing everyone to pay an extra $10-20/gallon at the pump for?

[itsnotmyfault]

Anytime John McCain offers policy advocating some new fangled technology everyone must bear in mind that ol "straight talk" hasn't even become functionally literate on a computer yet. The most consequential technological advance in the last 50 years. A technology that has rewritten how the world functions. Yet 73 year old John didn't have the intellectual curiosity to turn on a computer and find out what the hubbub was all about.. John had no intellectual curiosity. None.

What kind of a person makes that kind of choice. Much hay was made when Bush senior revealed how out of touch he was with the common man by displaying his amazed fascination about price scanners used at supermarkets. But even he knows how to use a computer. My 83 year old mother uses a computer. 5-year-olds use computers. The "one laptop per child" attaches so much value to the access to knowledge that their goal is to get laptops into the hands of every child in a developing country. But the great war hero John McCain hasn't bothered to turn on a computer. Doesn't use the Internet. Doesn't bank on line. Doesn't word process. Doesn't use digital cameras. Doesn't use an ipod. He operates in a technological vacuum.

And he is supposed to be the guy that will be the leader of the new technology, which will allow us to address the critical issues facing our nation.

[research]

There is NO "Battery Problem":
the A123 nanophosphate batteries and other latest generation lithium Ion batteries have virtually Perfect characteristics:
2000 Watts/lb about 3 HP per lb.
Typical Lithium ion high capacity, several times NiMH.
virtually no self discharge, 2 years to 10% charge.
10,000 cycles. 200k miles for an electric car.
Non-toxic and recyclable.
Free from thermal runaway problems of 1st gen LiOIN.
low cost.
In production for over a year and market proven.
http://www.a123systems.com/#/home/phev
A123 has raised 250M$
http://www.a123systems.com/#/company/
The Big car companies are all committing to large purchases of these new generation batteries from various companies.
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/5490

A123 5WH cells are just 10$ RETAIL.

assume 5$/5WH cell wholesale. A 30Mile per charge, 10KWH battery cost 5k$. lasts 10 years life or more puts out 800HP peak.

[KillTheMessenger]

Batteries can be recycled. CO2 can not.

[mamacat]

I get the feeling that McCain doesn't understand what he is trying to talk about.
Are PHEVs and EVs potentially game changing technologies that can help the environment, our national security, our economy and our society? Yes.
Is the best way to spur the development of PHEVs and EVs a $300 million prize for a better battery? No, although it would be nice if it were that simple.

If he wanted to show his bonafides on energy independence, McCain should have crossed the aisle and voted with Dems to remove the tax subsidies to big oil, and at the same time switch those subsidies to developing alternative energy industries. The Dem measure passed the House, but failed to pass in the Senate. If John McCain's one vote had been cast with the Dems, that would have been enough to pass the bill and turn it into law (assuming Bush didn't veto it).

[jsarets]

There's certainly no shortage of investment in advanced automotive battery technology. A123, CPI, EEStore, AltairNano, any number of Chinese and Japanese ventures, etc. But it took high gas prices to finally instill a sense of urgency, and it will take time for the technology to mature to a state where it can be commercialized on a large scale.

The point of supply-side stimulus of emerging industries is to subsidize them before the market creates the imminent incentive for private investment so that the technologies they develop are available when the market demands them. The market is already clamoring for a viable PHEV or E-REV, so it's too late for the government to talk about creating incentives.

[KillTheMessenger]

A sense of urgency is not enough, it also takes a shift in energy prices. Battery technology is not a miracle cure. Even under the best of circumstances it can not compete with $2/gallon gasoline. We need MUCH higher energy prices before any of this makes financial sense.

Actually, flywheel hybrid technology might be better and far cheaper than batteries, for now, but sadly it has not gotten the amount of attention that it deserves.

[research]

Oh common kill, I have explained that a123 cells which have been on the market for over a year, satisfy all ecar requirements including cost.

[anfractuous]

Yes, that would be wonderful; fifty million zombies hurdling down the highway at 100 mph, while scrolling their ipods.

[Cathexis]

On one hand, I agree that improved battery technology is a significant key towards moving into electrical transportation.

On the other hand, this near-religious preoccupation with the "Free Market" as provider of all solutions, if we but clear the obstacles is a fixation among the Right and gets in the way of real concerted efforts. The "prize for a solution" is empty posturing, seeing as no one *needs* a prize to undertake such an effort -- the natural Business rewards for doing so would more than compensate.

This has less to do with solving the battery situation than it does fluffing the "Free Market as Means to All Ends" myth.

[KillTheMessenger]

The free market does have the solution to all our problems. But what people do not realize is that it always comes too late and it always comes in way more expensive than properly mandated government regulated solutions can. There is nothing wrong with holding on to the free market solution, we just need to stop bitching about how late and how expensive it is. If our ideology is worth the money, we should stick to it.

[WilliePilgrim]

I'm hardly McC's fan in most respects but I do like the idea of private enterprise being induced to do what it does best instead of simply mainlining R&D money through the same old pipes. If 300 million sounds like a lot of money, I think it sounds minor compared to the pork on bridges to nowhere that I will acknowldge McCain's perspicacity helped to eliminate.

[KareninSM]

Of course, the writer is correct.

This is just one more McCain proposal, like the gas tax holiday, that is both unmoored from any principle and aimed at voters who can't think beyond one simple concept. Do these proposals reflect contempt for voters, misunderstanding of voters, or McCain's own simple mindedness?

[DXM]

First off, Sen. McCain's $300 million prize is just a gimmick. As was mentioned, whoever develops this magical battery is going to make a lot more than just $300 million. What is needed is $300+++ million in R&D money so that various university labs and small companies can develop this battery. But even if this battery existed today, how are we going to charge it? Electric cars would still be impractical because we would have to charge them on our already overburdened, carbon-dependent electric grid. We need billions spent over years to develop viable alternative energy sources and totally overhaul our energy infrastructure. Nice try, Sen. McCain, but you and your ilk still don't get it!!!

[kvet]

I thought you were talking about the Batteries In His Hearing Aid.......lol

[CrzyRussell]

Start building nuclear now.

[KillTheMessenger]

Why?

[disgustedcitizen]

If someone does come up with an efficient battery, BigOil will pay a hell of a lot more then $300 million to make it go away.

[Aaror]

They don't have to, they already own all three car companies.
Ever wonder why we only make big cars? Ever wonder about the aggressive marketing of SUV's even as our car makers struggled to stay in business? Look at who owns the oil companies, and who owns the car companies, and you see the same names. Then look at how small the car companies are as an investment compared to the oil companies...
Makes sense now, doesn't it

[phasechange]

Yes, you're basically right. However, let me suggest a prize that would be worthwhile. A challenge for a manufacturer to introduce a product to market - the Single Person Vehicle (SPV). An SPV would be able to accomplish over 100mpg at 100 mph. It could cosset an individual in style and comfort while significantly improving efficiency. It could satisfy the aspirations of consumers for green, progressive, customized stylish products. We could then follow that up with another prize for the first completely non-polluting SPV, for example, based on residential solar-powered hydrogen generation and easily refillable fuel modules.

[SeriousBlack]

Good observations with the right type of philosophical attitude - I would quibble with one thing, however... Who cares about 100 mph? Give me 50 mph and I would be fine.

Corinthians 13:11 - "When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."

It's time for American society to grow up and give up their sick fascination with 8-cylinder internal combustion muscle cars.

[phasechange]

Thanks, but let me ask you to reconsider the advantages of higher speed. Think about the payoff for the average person who sits in traffic wasting an extraordinary amount of human productivity. More speed equals more value to the driver. We take for granted that computers and communications get faster each year. We should set the same goal for our transportation networks - more speed mean more throughput and greater return on our investments of capital and time. Moreover, holding everything else equal, the higher the speed the lower the traffic density. Finally, increased speed doesn't decrease safety if we engineer in the proper design standards. Today's highways are much safer at 80mph than the 50's Pennsylvania Turnpike at 65mph. As you suggest, we can do even better if we tried. We can have speed, comfort, fuel efficiency, and pollution prevention all at the same time.

[MajorKong]

50 mph is fine if you're going from DC to Baltimore. If you're going from Abilene to Wichita it's another story.

[EinChicago]

Which would be great... provided your fairy fart powered single person vehicle can transport a family of four. Otherwise it is less than useless for 99% of the country's needs.

[turkeyfish]

Hey but if you could just get those farts synchronized.

Clearly republicans have know how and upper hand in such synchronization. Just look at how they all toot the same talking points within minutes of their release.