new lightweight intelligent battery

Electrosource Inc. (San Marcos, TX) recently launched its new lightweight intelligent battery, the E-POWER. According to Electrosource, the new battery uses patented technology to make the battery 25 percent lighter than competitive products. The company claims the battery is the first intelligent sealed lead-acid battery to include an embedded microchip which continuously monitors the battery and alerts the user to damaging over-charge and under-charge conditions. The E-POWER battery is designed to have a specific energy of 39.5Wh/kg, at five-hour rating, and a specific power of 400W/kg. The 12V 27 ampere hour (five-hour) battery weighs 18 pounds. According to Electrosource, the E-POWER can be deep cycled and rapidly charged without excessive heating. This is claimed to make the new battery ideal for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles where traditional battery cost, weight and slow charging have been factors which inhibit mass production of electric vehicles. Similar but larger Electrosource batteries are powering several hybrid-electric buses in New York City. The E-POWER battery uses proven chemistry to bring light weight, power and intelligence to a spectrum of applications, said Benny Jay, CEO of Electrosource. E-POWER is targeted at vehicles engine starting, cordless lawnmowers and electric vehicles; in fact, any application which requires portable power in a small, compact package. The E-POWER battery is equally suited for static applications such as emergency lighting, uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunications where the intelligent microchip increases the reliability of the system. The E-POWER battery is the only deep-cycle battery available today which can crank a large V-8 engine, yet can be held in the palm of one hand.