Google’s investment in Transphorm could be good news for EVs

[mikexilva]

http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/23/googl ... tric-cars/

Google said today it had invested in a startup called Transphorm, whose power-conversion efficiency technology could some day help create more efficient electric cars.

The company’s technology can reduce by up to 90 percent the power lost when one form of energy is converted to the other (say, from AC — alternating current — to DC, direct current). Hybrid and electric car drives also convert electricity from AC to DC, so the Transphorm’s technology could one day be used to make electric vehicles and hybrids more efficient, said CEO Umesh Mishra in an interview with VentureBeat.
“The efficiencies that we offer translate directly to advanced efficiencies in [electric vehicle] drives,” Mishra said.

The technology could be used to extend the range of cars with the same size battery used in electric cars today, or by reducing the size of the battery for a lighter car with the same range that current electric and hybrid cars have.

All-electric cars right now like the Nissan Leaf (pictured, bottom) typically go about 100 miles on a single charge, and plug-in hybrids like the Toyota Prius Plug-In (pictured, top) or the Chevrolet Volt can go anywhere from 13 to 50 miles before switching over to gas, depending on the automaker and design. While there’s interest in public car chargers, consumers are still concerned about the range of cars.

[...]

[mikexilva]

Tendo em conta que o LEAF já tem uma efeciencia na ordem dos 90%, não percebo como é que podem melhorar muito neste campo... ou será mais aplicavel aos postos de carregamento?

[batalha]

Tendo em conta que o LEAF já tem uma efeciencia na ordem dos 90%, não percebo como é que podem melhorar muito neste campo... ou será mais aplicavel aos postos de carregamento?

Talvez possa dar um contributo na parte da autonomia disponível? Com todos os dados já reunidos pela Google quem sabe possam desenvolver uma aplicação que tenha em conta as subidas, temperatura, trânsito e características do próprio condutor? Eles são bons nisso.