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1210 Km in a Single Charge?
The US energy startup ONE (Our Next Energy), claims an whooping 1210 km range with their high energy density battery pack that they used in Tesla model S prototype vehicle. According to their claim this may be the longest range ev battery so far. The technology was presented at the CES 2022 tech conference in Las Vegas that also claims a safe -chemistry to produce battery to reduce environmental degradation. The battery pack needed minimum modification to be fitted into the model S and ONE also claims that can be done with other standard cars as well to improve their range and performance. Impressed, right. Let’s dig deep into this.
Our Next Energy:
ONE or Our Next Energy,Inc is a energy startup based in Michigan was founded in July,2020 on three ideas. Firstly, to design a battery that can double the range of an electric car; Secondly,to use sustainable and safe materials avoiding Nickel and Cobalt that are harmful both for environment and humans; and finally, to develop and localise raw material supply chains to wherever the market needed them. According to ONE all these three basic principles will accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in a sustainable way.
Mr. Mujeeb Ijaz who is the founder, and chief executive officer of ONE (Our Next Energy), is a battery systems engineer with over 30 years of experience in the development of electric vehicles and battery systems technologies.Throughout his career, his work is focused on furthering the adoption of electric vehicles through advancements in battery safety, battery range, and cost.
Mr. Mujeeb has led teams at Ford Motor Co., where he developed Ford’s Edge with HySeries Drive, the Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 that set a land speed record at Bonneville in 2007, and the Chrysler ENVI project. He was the president of A123’s Venture Technologies unit where he and his team have led the development of Li-ion battery solutions for electric vehicles. More recently he has been a senior director at Apple where he developed novel energy storage solutions. Himself a graduate of Virginia Tech., Mr. Mujeeb Ijaz holds 31 U.S. patents in the field of battery technology and energy management systems.(from LinkedIn profile of Mr.Ijaz)
Tesla Model S with 1210 km Range:
Tesla model S is a world renowned electric car that was introduced on June the 22nd in the year 2012 and is regarded as one of the first ever successful electric car on the road. Usually Tesla model S with it’s longest range uses about 100 kWh (360 MJ) battery that claims a range of 560 km to 647 as tested by the EPA in 2020 (Environmental Protection Agency) km in an ideal condition. But after modifying with just the ONE battery pack the range is increased to almost double. According to Mr. Mujeeb Ijaz, their prototype battery having a 207.3 kWh capacity with energy density of 416 Wh/L is put into the same battery space available for the standard Tesla model S. ONE also claims that they have tested the new battery fitted vehicle in diverse road conditions and found it successful. Strangely, once they have even reached to a range of 1419 km with a constant speed of 55 km/h ,they claimed.
Aries and Gemini by ONE:
Our Next Energy in it’s website introduced two battery packs named AriesTM and GeminiTM. Aries is trademarked as ‘Structural Cell-to-Pack architecture’ that yields higher system level energy density which has 79 kWh energy with a 550 kg mass with a claimed life cycle of 3000 cycles.It has a safe and sustainable cathode chemistry (LFP) that avoids thermal runaway and it is also protected with overcharging.
The ONE GeminiTM
As Mr. Ijaz hopes ” We want to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by eliminating range anxiety, which holds back most consumers today” and added that “We are now focussed on evolving this proof-of-concept battery into a new product called GeminiTM, which will enable long distance trips on a single charge while improving cost and safety using sustainable materials”. GeminiTM prototype having a 207.3 kWh capacity is already successful with it’s test result with Tesla model S that crossed 1200 km with a single charge.
According to Mr. Ijaz ” The ONE GeminiTM battery aims to eliminate range as a barrier to electric vehicle adoption by doubling the available energy on board in the same package space”
The Future with ONE:
ONE is reshaping the future with a noble mission of reducing cost, and eliminating range anxiety into the electric vehicle users without compromising with the environmental issues with safe battery chemistry. The engineering team in ONE are focussed on safer battery solutions that use sustainable raw materials while creating a reliable and low cost supply chain. It is expected to produce their solutions with AriesTM preferably in 2022 and GeminiTM in around 2023. They are promised to offer enough range for every consumer to make an electric vehicle their only vehicle, perhaps even for the middle class people in other countries as well.
( Other images courtesy: ONE Inc.)