| Posted: Dec 02, 2016 |
Student's award-winning graphene battery could slash electric-car charging times
(Nanowerk News) A student engineer from the University of Sussex has won a national car industry award for designing a new battery that could revolutionise electric vehicles.
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Josh de Wit, a second-year mechanical engineering student, has won the Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award for 2016 with a concept that could dramatically reduce charging times for electric vehicles.
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This is a massive problem for the motor industry, with many considering the battery to be the biggest obstacle to electric cars going mainstream. Existing batteries are big and heavy, take a long time to charge and run out quickly.
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Josh's design harnesses the remarkable qualities of graphene, a form of pure carbon in sheets that are just one atom thick.
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A car battery made with stacked graphene, says Josh, would take far less time to charge, store more energy and be cheaper, stronger and lighter than existing products.
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This is because graphene has incredible conductivity, lightness and strength, and you would need to use far less of it than traditional materials.
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Josh, who studies in the University's School of Engineering and Informatics, is currently on placement with electric-motor company YASA. In the spring, he will begin a six-month work experience tour of some of the biggest names in the motor industry, including Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren, Nissan, Peugeot and Toyota.
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He is also working with the University's business incubator, Sussex Innovation, to develop a prototype and bring his stacked-graphene battery concept to market.
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He said: "From the outset, this has been a challenging but rewarding experience and the mentoring programme has really helped me to develop my idea and push myself further.
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"I'm now excited at the prospect of working with some of the world's most renowned vehicle manufacturers, experience which I've no doubt will stand me in excellent stead for carving out a career after university."
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Autocar editor-in-chief Steve Cropley said: "If this award is anything to go by, the future is certainly bright for the automotive industry."
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