- Stephen Eaves of Eaves Devices Inc. (Contact: stepheneaves@cox.net) recently contacted EVUK in its efforts to bring its latest generation of low-cost long-range Lithium Ion batteries to the attention of all those involved in manufacturing, designing and promoting electric vehicles here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

The following is an extract from recent correspondence with Stephen Eaves of Eaves Devices Inc.:

" I am the president of a start-up company - Eaves Devices Inc.- of Rhode Island, USA. We have a technique for producing large Lithium-ion battery packs at greatly reduced cost. However, it is still quite difficult to write a convincing business plan here in the USA for a technology that would replace combustion engine vehicles, when gasoline sells for $1.29/Gallon.

We hope that we might have better luck if we created a business model that included the European market.

From the information on your website, the UK looks very promising.

As you may know, one important factor when considering the battery service life of long range EVs (200-400 mile range) is that daily battery depth of discharge is quite low. For example the operator may make a daily commute of 40 Miles, where the car has a total range of say 200 miles. Under these conditions, if the operator recharges every night, our Li-ion batteries would obtain 5,000 to 7,000 charge cycles, making the service life of the battery over 200,000 miles total. This is distinctly different from previous life cycle cost studies on lead-acid EVs where the battery is almost fully discharged every day of use. In these studies, the battery replacement costs cancel the fuel savings and maintenance benefits of an EV. In our life cycle analysis, the battery would last the life of the car, and there is strong evidence that the car would require much less maintenance and last longer than an ICE vehicle.

Also, we are preparing to do a long range electric vehicle demonstration on our own Solectria Force EV. With the right contacts, we think we could do the demonstration in the UK as well as the US. Preferably this would be done in partnership with an electric vehicle producer that would also benefit from the publicity. At 144Wh/kg our batteries could easily make a 200-400 Mile range, depending on the accommodations of the base vehicle. If you know of some EV companies approaching the UK market, and if you would like to see a long range EV demonstration in your area, we would be quite thankful for any contacts or information that you could provide.

It is more difficult to get funding here for battery EVs because of the Freedom Car Program that has diverted much of the resources to Fuel Cells. We have detailed research that shows why battery electrics are a much better choice for the environment. The US automakers and oil companies are almost one in the same, and the source of hydrogen for the fuel cell vehicles is scheduled to come from fossil fuels. Based on Department of Energy studies, the total efficiency when converting and transferring energy from a renewable source, such as a wind generator, to the wheels of a battery electric vehicle is more than 300% higher than if the energy is being converted to hydrogen for a fuel cell vehicle. The UK has a very promising future with wind and wave energy - you are certainly on the right track with battery electric vehicles!"

Stephen Eaves (Contact: stepheneaves@cox.net)
President
Eaves Devices Inc.
Charlestown, RI, 02813
USA
Phone 401-364-2061
Fax 401-364-3803 (Note: an Eaves Devices Inc. website is currently in construction)