Electric car battery research has been on a sterile plateau for a while. Scientists have continued tinkering on the periphery of lithium-ion technology, and producing bright ideas that always seem to fade. Their batteries have assumed proportions of mattresses beneath the car floor. This restricts design to boxy shapes. Now Lamborghini research has posed the question, what if the battery is the car.
How The Battery is the Car in Maurizio Reggiani’s Mind
Maurizio Reggiani, head of research and development at Lamborghini, shared his vision with ABC 8 Eyewitness News. Last year, his company worked with MIT to produce the Terzo Millenio. This is a supercar with a capacitor at each wheel providing power.
He has a problem with current electric car design because this builds upon the battery mattress. This is great for sports utilities and sedans, but hardly suitable for his dreams. We must get the point where the battery is the car, he muses. We must move beyond the stage where the car is a parasite riding on the battery.
How Could a Battery Ever Become the Car?
Lamborghini thinks the answer lies in carbon. Carbon fiber is lighter and stronger than steel. Moreover, carbon is a great store of energy. We already have proven zinc-carbon and dual carbon batteries.
Maurizio Reggiani knows this idea can work. The experimental Terzo Millenio supercar successfully stored energy in its carbon-fiber body panels. This remarkable man is impatiently waiting for technology to catch up.
“It’s not a question of what kind of engine you put in a car. It’s a question of finding the right profile for the car,” he told ABC 8 Eyewitness News. When the battery is a car – a Lamborghini racing car – he could see his dreams come true. Our vision too, as we glimpse the way the battery future could turn out to be.
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Preview Image: Carbon-Fiber Air Intake