The Car Industry Interested in Lithium-Ion Batteries

The United States is ready to make lithium-ion batteries for cars. For that to happen, many car companies need to amalgamate into one big company. This one big company will be the lithium-ion battery industry in the United States. These lithium-ion batteries will run electric cars. Unfortunately, the US is losing to Asian countries. Mr. Greenberger, a lawyer specializing in clean technology, organized a new alliance of lithium-ion battery makers made up of fourteen big companies. Mr. Greenberger said and I quote,” The great age of automobiles lies ahead of us, not behind us.” The alliance plans to have a lithium-ion battery manufacturing in the United States. The ultimate goal is to be able to manufacture cars in the United States again using lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries are a type of rechargeable battery in which a lithium ion moves between the anode and cathode. An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarized electrical device. A cathode is an electrode through which positive electric current flows out of a polarized electrical device. The lithium ion moves from the anode to the cathode during discharge and from the cathode to the anode when charging.

As mentioned in the articlehttp://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/electric-car-battery-makers-seek-federal-funds/?scp=2&sq=Alternative%20Energy%20Sources&st=cse, there are three essential reasons why we should use lithium-ion batteries. One reason is that they eliminate the use of petroleum. Secondly, these batteries are three times as efficient as internal combustion engines. Furthermore, they can be charged by sources such as the wind (wind mill energy) and the sun (solar energy).

Several large companies and many start-up companies have been working on lithium-ion batteries. Mr. Greenberger said and I quote,” The future of these batteries will depend on start-ups because it’s a start-up industry.” The US has the technology to make these efficient batteries, but there are two major problems though. One problem is building prototypes to simulate new batteries. The other one is building the factories required to manufacture the batteries. Mr. Greenberger also says and I quote,” One reason is that none of the auto manufacturers bought lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. So, there is not enough money to build prototypes for the batteries and factories”.

My opinion on this article is that it is interesting. It will be helpful for our future to be able to have cost-efficient, energy-efficient and more reliable source to use in cars. The gas prices have been going up and our economy is in a bad shape. So, with the help of the efficient lithium-ion batteries, we could have a better economy. Plus, I learned more about the element lithium. For example, I learned about its purpose in the society and what its made out of. I thought it was interesting when the lawyer, Mr. Greenberger said that we are five years behind the Asians. Hence, I think this article is interesting to read.