Achievements Developed a viable NiMH battery as the prime midterm candidate EVs. Currently powering EVs in introductory market programs with NiMH battery packs provided by two separate developers. This program has provided leadership in a key area, resulting in important improvements to NiMH batteries. Research sponsored by DOE resulted in improvements in EV driving range due to advances in the specific energy of the battery. Consequently, production engineering of these batteries is moving along rapidly, and limited production for vehicles is not far behind.
Electric vehicles reduce the amount of primary energy used and consume very little petroleum.
EVs are the only technology that currently meets the California definition of a zero emission vehicle. Develop new and improved methods to characterize and monitor the performance of battery components and establish engineering principles that can be used to predict the performance of batteries during the operation.