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In just one year, the whens and wheres of lithium battery packs for hybrid and electric cars have come into much sharper focus

Light and compact lithium-ion batteries sound great for electric vehicles--aside from their historical tendency to catch fire. But recent advances in electrode chemistry have made them much safer. One of the first vehicles to use the new batteries comes from a Norwegian company, Think. By year's end, Think plans to start selling ultracompact electric cars with a range of more than 100 miles. A123 Systems of Watertown, MA, and Indianapolis's EnerDel will provide the batteries.

Valence believes its new generation of phosphate-based lithium-ion battery systems will move the electric vehicle industry one step closer to the Holy Grail -- finding a battery solution that is safe, intelligent, lasts longer and weighs less than outdated technologies being used today.

This month sees the launch of the Elettrica, the first production electric car on the UK market with the option of a lithium power supply. The car is said to provide almost twice the range of other small electric cars at 70 miles.

Additional exciting i news? Indeed there is. Mitsubishi is eyeing a 2010 launch for an all-electric lithium-ion version of the i called the i MIEV.

Lithium-ion cells are poised to take an increasing share of the auto battery market, just as electric drive seems set to begin a long, slow climb to become, at last, a serious power-train option. But what’s rarely understood is how much that second revolution depends on the first.

IBM is focusing on Lithium-Air batteries, which the company said has the potential to pack up to 10 times the power stored in Lithium-Ion batteries commonly found in cell phones and laptops.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

Mobile phones, notebook computers, iPods—the boom in portable computing and communications devices is dependent on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to deliver power. These batteries offer the highest energy density, allow laptops to function for useful amounts of time, and do not display a memory effect when compared to other types of rechargeable batteries. However, modern rechargeable batteries are still not truly satisfactory.

It’s a prototype hybrid car that gets 150MPG, and goes 40 miles on electricity alone, drawing its power from a combination of lithium-ion batteries and ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitors provide a burst of energy to the engine, when needed. They are then recharged by the lithium-ion batteries. This avoids the problem of emptying the batteries too fast, which can cause them to heat up, and possibly catch on fire.

By using silicon nanowires as the anode, in rechargeable lithium ion batteries, instead of graphite the amount of lithium the anode can hold is extended tenfold and thus the battery’s life.

It seems that everyone is getting into the battery business, one of them will succeed in making a smaller, lighter and less expensive battery.  This development by ExxonMobil sound very promising. ExxonMobil Chemical and ExxonMobil's Japanese affiliate, Tonen Chemical have developed a thin film separator for use in lithium-ion batteries, that would enable production of batteries like those found in cell phones and laptops, to power cars and trucks. These new film technologies are expected to significantly enhance the power, safety and reliability of lithium-ion batteries, thereby helping speed the adoption of these smaller and lighter batteries into the next wave of lower-emission vehicles.

Toyota is testing a Plug-in HV. According to Autoblog Green1, the second step in development “is a car with an electric-only range of 30-60 KM (60 KM = 37 Miles),” Presumably, this would be with advanced lithium batteries. Meanwhile, initial tests are with the addition of another NiMH battery pack and a plug-in hybrid vehicle capable of just 8 all-electric miles.