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Our future that the development of battery will bring

 

Boring travel back to hometown, transformed into the moving theater

 

 

For the last ten years, holiday travelers on the way back to their hometown have been feeling their trip shorter and easier. In fact, traveling time from Seoul to Busan has shortened by two hours for the past ten years, from Seoul to Gwangju by three hours. It was partly due to the improved road condition, but the main reason is the dispersion of traffic by checking real-time traffic condition with smartphone. In addition to shorter traveling time, a variety of entertainments became available with mobile devices like smartphone, tablet, laptop and even navigation system, which make travelers to feel more relaxed

 

Holiday travel back home 10 years ago, what would it have been like? In 2005, mobile phone with satellite DMB was first released. It was Samsung Electronics' SCH-B100, equipped with 2.2 inch display and mp3 player. At that time, two hours of watching DMB would use up the battery. So drivers probably chose car audio system rather than IT devices in order to relieve the monotony.

 

[Samsung Electronics' SCH-B100, equipped with satellite DMB]

What was your travel back to the hometown like in 2015? It seems to be a common scene that father is driving by the navigation system, and children are chatting with their families and friends using their smartphones, watching movies with tablet or laptop, or listening to the music with Bluetooth headset. What if the batteries are taken away from this scene?

 

Improvement of battery technology has played a great role in evolving IT devices. Because it requires more energy to operate larger displays and various functionalities, advancement of battery is an essential issue

 

For example, Galaxy S released in 2010 had battery capacity of 1,500mAh. After that, improvement of small-sized battery technology has been increasing the capacity by 15% every year. And it reached to the point of 2,800mAh for Galaxy S5, released in 2014

 

 

Replace the battery, and your car will be more fuel-efficient



What else would have changed the scene of holiday travel back to the hometown? Usage of IT and other electronic devices in a car has been increasing. There are many devices including navigation system, black box, smartphone charger as well as various optional car equipment so that you have to extend your cigarette lighter receptacle. Those devices also need battery to operate, so battery utilization is an important issue not only for electric cars but also for the general cars

 

At Detroit Motor Show held in January, Samsung SDI has unveiled LVS (Low Voltage System) with which general cars can upgrade their battery performance. LVS, a low voltage battery system with lithium-ion battery, can replace or be added to the lead-acid battery of general cars

A normal lead-acid battery produces the voltage of 12V, but LVS can make it higher to the level of 48V. However, it is lower than the voltage level of electric car (EV) which is 60V. That's why LVS is classified as 'low voltage'

 

The advantage of LVS is that you can improve mileage and electricity with low cost while leaving the internal-combustion engine as it is. You can use more electronic devices, and fully utilize mileage improvement systems like ISG (Idle Stop and Go) which stops the engine while not moving.

 

Carmakers are paying attention to LVS because it can improve fuel efficiency by 3% or up to 12%. So LVS is being considered a countermeasure for the environment regulation to reduce CO2 emission, and its demand in Europe and America gradually increases. Current LVS market is yet at the initial stage, but it is forecast to grow to the level of 2,540,000 in 2021. (From IHS)

 

Future highway, here comes the mobile charging station
In the future when electric cars are popularized enough, maybe you will see on the highway the mobile charging station with ESS on its back

 

 

In U.S., electric cars are relatively more distributed, so there are already mobile charging services for electric cars in operation. A truck with ESS on it goes to the stopped car on the road and provides emergency charging. Electric car market in U.S. has been growing from 17,000 in 2010 to 1,000,000 in 2014, opening the age of electric car in the first place. (From 'Inside EVs')

 

Besides, in December last year, the Ministry of Environment and MOTIE (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) of Korea unveiled a package of comprehensive measures to speed up the commercialization of electric cars. Under the plan, the government will boost the number of electric cars on the road from 6,000 in 2014 to 46,000 in 2017, aiming for 200,000 electric cars by 2020.