http://cleantechnica.com/2015/12/04/sw atch-announces-bold-move-ev-batteries/ Sw atch Announces Bold Move Into EV Batteries December 4th, 2015 Kyle Field
[image http://c1cleantechnicacom.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2015/09/Smart-ED-Amsterdam-570x428.jpg Smart-ED-Amsterdam Zach points out a Smart EV in Amsterdam (Credit: Marika Shahan) ] Known for artsy w atches, it may seem strange that Sw atch is considering a move into the electric vehicle battery game, until you start to dig into the details. Sw atch has been making batteries for w atches for years, so the connection to the technology makes sense, but it’s the specific battery chemistry that is key to its recent actions. To understand the moves being made today, we need to first look at the history of Sw atch challenging the status quo, as can be seen in its bold w atch designs and more relevantly in its previous attempt to enter the electric vehicle market way back in the 80s and 90s. The timing back then just wasn’t quite right and really fell off the table when the whole deal took an awkward left turn after Sw atch signed a contract with Daimler-Benz AG and created the smart car. Sw atch was paired with Mercedes, which came out of the partnership with a 51 to 49 percent controlling interest in smart and took the brand in a different direction without much input from Sw atch. Interesting fact of the day — “smart” is actually an amalgamation of the “s” from Sw atch, “m” from Mercedes, and “art” representing the experimental, creative spirit of the new brand, which can still be seen in smart cars today even though the brand has since been fully integrated into Mercedes, which bought out Sw atch’s remaining interest years ago. Dialing the w atch forward a few decades to 2015 and it’s clear from a recent Electric Cars Forum article (in Spanish) that Sw atch never lost that passion for electric cars. Adding onto that passion lots of experience building batteries and products that run on batteries, and it’s easy to see why Sw atch is confident that now the time is right and that its unique battery chemistry gives it a unique angle on the market. The recent VW emissions scandal was the catalyst for its reassessment, and the venture looks to have received a green light. As mentioned above, Sw atch has been making batteries for w atches for years and is currently churning out over 800,000 batteries per day for Sw atch w atches and other small electronics from its factory in Switzerland. Sw atch is building on this core competency and will have a new production line fully functional in 12 months that will be able to produce battery packs for use in electric cars, scooters, and even bikes. Anyone can put 18650 cells in a pack and tie it all together with charging technology and come out the other end with an EV battery, but Sw atch believes the new battery it has developed will allow it to undercut the weight of the batteries currently supplied by Panasonic to Tesla by more than 30%. That’s huge in a game where each pound saved is one less pound the car has to get up to speed, to get to a stop as quickly as possible, and to carry around for the rest of its lifespan, so this is a big announcement. Alternately, this could result in packs that weigh the same but allow for a significantly higher range, which is equally powerful since limited range is arguably the one key metric keeping the masses out of electric cars. Sw atch also believes the new battery will be able to charge twice as fast, safely. From the Electric Cars Forum article (translated by Google): “This is because the design of the membrane separating the anode and cathode using solid materials, which also reduces the risk of explosion in the event of an accident.” It’s almost as if Sw atch took every drawback of current battery tech and made it better in just about every way. I know what you’re saying, James: “vaporware” — me too! It sounds too good to be true, and very well may be, but let’s consider a few things: Sw atch has created a car before and pushed hard for cleaner versions of it. Sw atch has been building batteries for decades, so it’s not beyond plausible that it has developed a superior chemistry. The CEO of Sw atch, Nicolas G Hayek, is a serial entrepreneur and has started quite a few companies, with many that push the borders on what’s possible. Belenos Clean Power (a fully owned subsidiary of Sw atch), which developed the revolutionary battery in partnership with the prestigious Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (aka ETHZ), was actually created in 2008. As with many technologies, it is not possible to tell what the future holds for Sw atch, but it is still very exciting to see them re-entering the EV market and making some bold claims in the process. Bold claims that, if true, could step up the EV market not only for itself, but for all EV manufacturers (at the right price). [© cleantechnica.com] ... http://www.belenoscleanpower.com/ Belenos Clean Power ... https://www.ethz.ch/ ETH Zürich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). Information about ETHZ's history, education, research, and libraries ... http://ecomento.com/2015/12/07/sw atch-says-it-has-a-better-electric-car-battery/ Sw atch says it has a better electric car battery December 7, 2015 Sw atch, the innovative Swiss company known mostly for its stylish w atches, made an attempt to build an electric car way back in the 80's. That effort was a ... ... http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/05/sw atch-says-its-working-on-revolutionary-battery-for-smartw atches-and-cars/ Sw atch says it’s working on “revolutionary battery” for smartw atches and cars May 7, 2015 The first smartw atch that lasts six months on a charge has a major advantage, says CEO. For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Sw-atch-revolutionary-EV-Batteries-charge-2x-as-fast-tp4679131.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
