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Print ArticleLOS ANGELES , Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- AFS Trinity Power Corporation today reported independent test results demonstrating that the company's "Extreme Hybrid" technology that utilizes batteries in combination with ultracapacitors will enable a plug in hybrid vehicle using the system to have a useful life that is 6 times greater than plug ins that use lithium batteries alone -- 150,000 miles for an AFS Trinity Extreme Hybrid versus 25,000 miles for a conventional plug in hybrid that uses lithium ion batteries alone.
Battery tests were conducted by America's leading independent battery testing laboratory, Mobile Power Solutions of Beaverton, Oregon .
EDITORS' NOTE: Extreme Hybrid prototypes and further details of today's news will be available to the media in Los Angeles, CA , at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18, at 1500 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles , 90015 across from the Los Angeles Convention Center. To arrange interviews or video coverage contact Tim Kent at 310-409-3861.
"For plug in hybrids," according to AFS Trinity CEO Edward W. Furia , "this means that the off the shelf lithium ion batteries in cars incorporating our patent pending dual energy storage technology will probably last for the entire life of the vehicle whereas the lithium batteries of conventional plug ins with battery-only technology will need to be replaced every 25,000 miles. A number of companies have announced plans to build plug in hybrids that can power a car for 40 miles in all-electric mode. Even if the batteries can deliver this much power, how viable are these plug ins if they are only good for 25,000 miles?"
"However," Furia said, "AFS Trinity does not rule out the possibility that more durable cost effective batteries could be invented that could be used alone and which might be sufficient to handle the duty cycle of a PHEV. However, no such battery, of which AFS Trinity is aware, currently exists."
David Shemmans , CEO of Ricardo, the world's leading automotive engineering firm and a preferred supplier to AFS Trinity, said, "Batteries are the single most expensive part of an electric vehicle or plug in hybrid EV. From a cost standpoint, replacing the batteries is analogous to replacing the engine in an internal combustion-only car. Replacing the battery after they are used for only 25,000 miles, which could occur in just over 18 months in an average American driver's car, would make plug ins impractical. A plug in hybrid with an energy storage system that can survive 150,000 miles of driving is an enormous advantage and a potential economic game changer."
Furia explained why AFS Trinity's dual energy storage system of lithium ion batteries and ultracapacitors managed by advanced power electronics results in the batteries being so much more durable than when the batteries are subjected to the same current demands but are used alone.