125 Miles per Gallon Prius Prototype Unveiled
Lithium Technology Corporation has just created a prototype plug-in Prius that demonstrably gets 125+ miles per gallon. The car uses a new kind of large-scale lithium ion battery that uses lithium iron phosphate as the cathode.
These batteries are well suited for cars. First, they don't explode when punctured and second, they have a very high discharge current. The Prius' battery stores 7 kWh of electricity in 63 Li-ion cells, and the vehicle relies exclusively on the batteries for the first 60 miles of travel. The prototype is, of course, a plug-in, so the mileage-boosting energy comes from the electric grid. And, no, grid energy isn't emissions free, but it's a heck of a lot more efficient than internal combustion.
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