Objectives/Goals
With the rapid growth of portable electronics, it has become necessary to develop efficient energy-storage technology to match this development. While batteries are currently used for energy-storage, they suffer from long charging times and short cycle life. Electrochemical supercapacitors have attracted attention as energy-storage devices because they bridge the gap between current alternatives of conventional capacitors and batteries, offering higher energy density than conventional capacitors and higher power density than batteries. Despite these advantages, supercapacitor energy density is much lower than batteries and increasing energy density remains a key challenge in supercapacitor research. The goal of this work was to design and synthesize a supercapacitor with increased energy density while maintaining power density and long cycle life.


Methods/Materials
To improve supercapacitor energy density, I designed, synthesized, and characterized a novel core-shell nanorod electrode with hydrogenated TiO2 (H-TiO2) core and polyaniline shell. H-TiO2 acts as the double layer electrostatic core. Good conductivity of H-TiO2 combined with the high pseudocapacitance of polyaniline results in significantly higher overall capacitance and energy density while retaining good power density and cycle life. This new electrode was fabricated into a flexible solid-state device to light an LED to test it in a practical application.


Results
Structural and electrochemical properties of the new electrode were evaluated. It demonstrated high capacitance of 203.3 mF/cm2 (238.5 F/g) compared to the next best alternative supercapacitor in previous research of 80 F/g, due to the design of the core-shell structure. This resulted in excellent energy density of 20.1 Wh/kg, comparable to batteries, while maintaining a high power density of 20540 W/kg. It also demonstrated a much higher cycle life compared to batteries, with a low 32.5% capacitance loss over 10,000 cycles at a high scan rate of 200 mV/s.


Conclusions/Discussion This project successfully designed, synthesized and characterized a novel nanorod electrode supercapacitor with increased energy density while retaining power density and long cycle life. This work is an important initial step in introducing this new electrode material in supercapacitors to replace conventional batteries in flexible electronic devices.


Summary Statement
This project designed and synthesized a novel supercapacitor with increased energy density while maintaining power density and long cycle life using a new core-shell structure.


Help Received
Used lab equipment at University of California Santa Cruz under the supervision of Dr. Yat Li

This resulted in excellent energy density of 20.1 Wh/kg, comparable to batteries,

The technology may also be able to speed up charging of automobile batteries, she said.

Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

Only American Car Company to Have Paid Back Government

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

PALO ALTO, Calif.-- Tesla Motors announced that it has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.

For the first seven years since its founding in 2003, Tesla was funded entirely with private funds, led by Elon Musk. Tesla brought its Roadster sports car to market with a 30% gross margin, designed electric powertrains for Daimler (Mercedes) and had done preliminary design of the Model S all before receiving a government loan.

In 2010, Tesla was awarded a milestone-based loan, requiring matching private capital obtained via public offering, by the DOE as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. This program was signed into law by President Bush in 2008 and then awarded under the Obama administration in the years that followed. This program is often confused with the financial bailouts provided to the then bankrupt GM and Chrysler, who were ineligible for the ATVM program, because a requirement of that program was good financial health.

The loan payment was made today using a portion of the approximately $1 billion in funds raised in last week’s concurrent offerings of common stock and convertible senior notes. Elon Musk, Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer and cofounder, purchased $100 million of common equity, the least secure portion of the offering. “I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate,” said Elon Musk. “I hope we did you proud.”
About Tesla

Tesla Motors' (NASDAQ: TSLA) goal is to accelerate the world’s transition to electric mobility with a full range of increasingly affordable electric cars. California-based Tesla designs and manufactures EVs, as well as EV powertrain components for partners such as Toyota and Daimler. Tesla has delivered more than 10,000 electric vehicles to customers in 31 countries.

Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.

But Chrysler's statement told only part of the story.

It's true that Chrysler repaid a $5.9 billion government loan it got as part of a larger U.S. bailout of the company.

Chrysler had a good reason to pay it back: The company was paying 7% to 14% interest on the loan. Marchionne once complained of "shyster" interest rates, a comment he later apologized for.

But Chrysler did not repay all of the rest of the $12.4 billion bailout it received. Instead, Treasury received stock in Chrysler. And when Treasury finally sold those shares back to Chrysler in 2011, it did so at a loss of about $1.3 billion. The government is also likely to lose money on its bailout of General Motors when it is done selling its shares.

Tesla Motors said today it will expand its network of fast-charge stations beyond California and the Northeastern seaboard within several months to a year.

Elon Musk, CEO of the electric-vehicle maker, said the fast-charge stations are being upgraded from 90 kilowatts to 120 kilowatts, meaning they will be able to return most of the vehicle's range in 20 to 25 minutes, roughly twice as fast as the Tesla charging time.

The upgraded chargers will be available within the next few months, he said. Existing chargers can return 150 miles of range in 30 minutes, or 200 miles of range in 45 minutes.

By means of perspective, a 120-kilowatt supercharger is delivering 60 times the power normally used by a suburban house.

Tesla's latest announcement follows several weeks of good news for the California automaker, which reported its first ever quarterly profit on May 8. Then last week the company paid off the $452 million balance of its federal alternative energy loan nine years early.

Tesla shares, which have nearly tripled in value since March 19, today closed at $104.95 on Nasdaq, up 32 cents or 0.3 percent.

Supercharged plans

The expansion is an acceleration of the plan outlined last fall by Musk, who projected coast-to-coast coverage by the end of 2014. When completed, the network will have about 200 charging stations, with multiple charging outlets at each station.
By the end of June, Tesla will have added stations in California, as well as coverage of routes from Vancouver, British Columbia; to Seattle to Portland, Ore.; in the Northwest and from Austin to Dallas in Texas. Networks also will be established in Illinois and Colorado. When that is accomplished, Tesla says the number of its fast-charge ports will be tripled from the current level.

Within six months, Tesla will have connected most of the United States and Canada, with expansion into Arizona, Texas, Florida, the Midwest and Southeast.

"It will also be possible to travel diagonally across the country from Los Angeles to New York using only the Tesla Supercharger network," the automaker said in a release.

By May 2014, Tesla fast-charge stations will cover "almost the entire population of the U.S. and Canada. … Model S drivers can take the ultimate road trip -- whether that's L.A. to New York, Vancouver to San Diego, or Montreal to Miami -- without spending a cent on fuel."

More ports

Tesla also is expanding the number of charging ports at existing stations. For instance, the station at Harris Ranch, outside Los Angeles, has grown from one port to 10, Musk said.

"If there are about 200 stations [nationwide], there are probably 2,000 to 3,000 ports," Musk said.

Musk has said the cost of the network is between $20 million and $30 million.

Each station will cost about $150,000 each if using the existing electrical grid, and an additional $150,000 per station if solar panels provide the electricity.

"When dealing with a car with a range of 200 miles, you will have at least two or three Superchargers within that charge range," Musk said. "We'll be at the 100-station mark next year, twice as fast as planned."

There is no charge to Tesla Model S customers. The stations work only on Tesla Model S sedans.

"We actually have grid storage going on at some of the [solar] charging stations. Stationary battery packs take in energy from the solar panels, and that stationary battery pack charges the Model S. It's capable of going completely off-grid," Musk said.

He added: "If the zombie apocalypse happens, you will be able to travel across the country using the Tesla supercharging network."

There is no charge to Tesla Model S customers.

Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. said it recalled some Model S cars manufactured between May 10 and June 8 due to a defect in the mounting bracket of the rear seat.

"This reduces our confidence that the left hand seat back will be properly retained in the event of a crash," Tesla founder-CEO Elon Musk said today in a statement posted on its Web site.

The statement did not specify the number of vehicles affected.

Musk said there were no customer complaints and that the company was not aware of any injuries because of the defect. The recall was not in response to any regulatory warning, he said.

LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Motors will have battery quick-swap bays at many of its supercharging stations nationwide.

The first quick-swap stations will be online in the fourth quarter of this year, and allow changing of battery packs in 90 seconds.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said drivers will pay the equivalent of a tank of gas for the service, between $60 and $80. The company announced the program late Thursday.

The automated bays will have a Tesla Model S drive over a pit, whereupon robots will remove the old battery pack and replace it with a new one to factory-spec torque settings. The driver does not need to leave the car.

Storage of spare batteries will be both above and below ground, Musk said. Each pack weighs about 1,000 pounds.

Each quick-charge station will cost Tesla about $500,000 to build, Musk said.

The initial wave of stations will be along the I-5 corridor in California, as well as the corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Drivers can later return to the same station for their original pack, or keep the new one for a fee, due to the newer pack having a longer warranty period. The changed-out packs will be recharged on-site.

'Pull up and go'

"It's going to be pull up and go. We're going to overstock on the battery front," Musk said.

Consumers can still choose to recharge their existing battery at the free supercharger. Musk has promised the full-charge time would drop from 45 minutes to about 20 minutes within the year.

"The decision is, do you prefer faster or free?" Musk said.

Musk said he would be wiling to license the quich-swap technology to anyone willing to meet Tesla's operating standards.

ZEV Revenue

California and nine states that follow its Zero-Emission Vehicle program require carmakers to generate compliance credits by selling models that emit little or no tailpipe exhaust, including plug-in hybrids, battery-only cars and hydrogen vehicles. Large manufacturers need the most credits to comply and Tesla, with annual volume too small to be covered by the rules, is a surplus credit generator.

Last month Tesla, which has nearly tripled in market value this year, said its first-ever quarterly profit was aided by $67.9 million in ZEV credit sales to companies it didn’t name.

Credit sales will drop in the second quarter and may disappear in 2013’s second half, Musk said in an earnings call last month.

Tesla has said it plans to sell 21,000 Model S cars this year, with deliveries to Europe and Asia beginning in the second half. Demand currently exceeds Tesla’s production capacity, Musk said Thursday, without elaborating.

Each Model S generates between five and seven credits for Tesla, determined by battery size, under a requirement that they can be refueled in 10 minutes or less, according to California’s Air Resources Board.

Battery swapping capability currently satisfies that “fast refueling” requirement, David Clegern, a spokesman for the agency, said by e-mail. CARB is considering a rule change that would remove pack swapping as a fast-refueling option, he said.

Hydrogen vehicles such as Honda Motor Co.’s FCX Clarity fuel-cell sedan are the only other cars that currently earn as many as seven credits per vehicle, according to California rules.

“Are we simply doing this for the CARB credits? That is not the case,” Musk said. The company’s revenue from ZEV credit sales will decline over time relative to its vehicle sales as deliveries to global markets grow, he said. He estimated that U.S. sales will account for only about a third of Tesla’s volume, of which only half will generate credits.

Last month Tesla, which has nearly tripled in market value this year, said its first-ever quarterly profit was aided by $67.9 million in ZEV credit sales to companies it didn’t name.

Drivers can later return to the same station for their original pack, or keep the new one for a fee, due to the newer pack having a longer warranty period.

The automated bays will have a Tesla Model S drive over a pit, whereupon robots will remove the old battery pack and replace it with a new one to factory-spec torque settings. The driver does not need to leave the car.

The new status car: Tesla

By: Rebecca Little August 12, 2013

It's happening in the parking structures at Gold Coast high-rises, in front of the Lycee Francais school in Buena Park, in suburban garages and in the reserved spaces at hospital parking lots: The usual suspects—BMW, Audi and Lexus—are being replaced by the Tesla Model S.

The Model S, which began delivery late last year and lists for about $70,000, comparable with other luxury sports cars, is a sleek, all-electric sedan that blends sports car zip (0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds) with a luxury car feel. The motor is three times as efficient as a gasoline engine and produces zero emissions.

This isn't your father's midlife crisis car. “It's a game-changer,” says Joel Baer, a 44-year-old commodities trader from Deerfield. “Forget that it's electric, it's still the best car I've ever driven—the best handling, the fastest, the quietest and with the most storage.”

Local owners—Tesla says there are about 100—say it lives up to the hype. Many have become evangelists for the brand.

“It isn't just for the nutty environmentalist like me,” says Ron Saslow, 47, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based dental instrument manufacturer Hu-Friedy Mfg. Co. LLC. He's a Model S owner and an early adopter—he bought Tesla's debut car, the Roadster, for $100,000 in 2008.

“This car can substitute for virtually any car in (the luxury) category,” he says. “The people who have BMWs or Audis or Mercedes sedans are the ones who are starting to switch over.”

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, bought the car “totally based on the fact that there are no emissions,” he says. For him, the luxury styling was a bonus.

“It's the fastest golf cart I've ever driven,” says Gold Coast resident Mark Ladd, 43, CEO of Chicago-based mobile-gaming startup LyteShot LLC. “You depress the accelerator and it automatically speeds up. You don't have to wait for a passing gear or for the engine to catch up. Within the first 10 days of owning the car, I managed to get myself a ticket.”

"You don't have to wait for a passing gear or for the engine to catch up," says Mark Ladd, CEO of LyteShot LLC. "Within the first 10 days of owning the car, I managed to get myself a ticket." Photo: Kendall Karmanian

A CAR THAT KEEPS EVOLVING

Environmental concern motivated Jason Ebel, 41, co-owner of Warrenville-based Two Brothers Brewing Co., to buy the car. He received his Model S, No. 88, in October. Vehicle identification numbers are low for this relatively new company, and there's a sense of pride among owners with low numbers. “It is certainly the best all-around car I have ever owned,” says Mr. Ebel, who installed a free public charging station at the brewery.

Robert Tseitlin, 31, vice president of operations at Chicago's Zeit Fine Jewelry and a city resident with two small children, uses the Tesla as a recreational vehicle. “It's definitely a head-turner,” he says. “It kind of looks like a Maserati.”

The elimination of the combustion engine and transmission tunnel means more cargo space, including a second trunk under the hood, and an oversized back seat without the hump.

A 17-inch dashboard touch screen controls navigation and Web browsing—there are almost no buttons in the car. It allows Tesla to push software upgrades to the vehicle without a visit to the shop. “It's like a car that keeps evolving,” Mr. Ladd says.

Mr. Baer drives downtown from Deerfield every weekday and shuttles his kids to activities. He did the math on his Model S, which cost $78,000 with the options he chose. After the $7,500 federal tax credit and the $4,000 tax credit from the state, the car was $67,500.

“I had a (Porsche) Cayenne before this that got maybe 15 miles to the gallon—so I'll save myself about $6,000 a year in gas,” he says. “It will cost me about $3,000 to charge the car for six years. It's not really as expensive as people think it is.”

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., reported an operating profit in the second quarter and revenue of $405 million, up from $26.6 million a year ago.

The Model S starts at $69,900, with a $10,000 price difference between two battery options—a 60 kilowatt-hour battery earns 208 miles to the charge and an 85 kwh battery earns about 265 miles.

“It's like a phone,” says Mr. Saslow, who commutes from Highland Park to his Avondale office. “If you really don't pay attention to it you can run out of charge, but you don't because when you have a chance you plug it in.”

Like many Tesla owners, Mr. Baer had a 220-volt outlet installed in his garage, which offers about 30 miles per hour of charge. The battery takes about seven hours to charge fully. The car also can charge, more slowly, on a regular 110-volt plug. But that's adequate for city dwellers like Mr. Tseitlin, who uses the Tesla as a second car.

In any case, superchargers, which can juice up a battery halfway in 30 minutes, are becoming more common. In late June, Tesla put the first Midwest supercharger in downstate Normal, unveiled with a press conference featuring Mr. Cullerton and his Tesla.

A second supercharger will open in northern Illinois later this year, and by the fall, Tesla plans to have nearly a dozen Midwest stations. By the end of the year, the company says it will have enough free superchargers for Tesla owners to drive cross-country.

Tesla sells direct to consumers rather than through dealerships, much to the chagrin of traditional car dealers, who have sued the company in some states. Showrooms with just a few models on display are in Old Orchard Mall and Oakbrook Mall; a service center is on Grand Avenue in West Town. “It's kind of like going into an Apple store and buying an iPhone or iPad,” says Mr. Tseitlin, who ordered his in March.

Every car is made to order in Fremont, Calif., with buyers customizing everything from paint color to sound system upgrades. The cars are delivered about 60 days later, either to the customer's house, to a Tesla showroom or to the service center, where an employee spends up to three hours going over features with the owner.

The service center also offers house calls, but since electric cars have fewer parts, this translates into less maintenance. There's no carburetor, muffler, fan belt, spark plug or oil changes.

Mr. Saslow already has put down a deposit on the Model X, an SUV making its debut in 2014. It has third-row seating that can be accessed through the back and falcon-wing doors that, unlike the DeLorean—whose doors opened out and up—open up and then stretch out like a wing. That allows drivers to park in tight spots and still open the door.

The Model X price tag has not yet been released, but Tesla’s plans to debut a sedan at $30,000 by 2016 might just push the electric car into the mainstream. Mr. Saslow hopes so. “I want everyone in the world to have a car similar to this,” he says. “It's mind-boggling how great the performance is, and it eliminated my gas usage.”

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the amount Mr. Baer estimates it will cost him to charge his Tesla, and to correct the price of the Model X.

Contact: life@chicagobusiness.com

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