ENRICHINg SOCIETY
HAVE BATTERIES , WILL TRAVEL
Modular technology could be key to more efficient electric vehicles .
BY BRANDON Yu , ‘ 16
iT ’ S HARD TO SAy EXACTly WHEn electric cars went from being a highway novelty to the sleek , silent staple of the road . As for where they could go , engineers at UC San Diego are steering toward a more functional future .
Moreover , if modular technology can essentially liberate the battery from the vehicle , these expensive batteries could then be leased , dropping the automobile ’ s price by upward of $ 10,000 , further closing the price gap with gas-powered cars .
Current electric cars are entirely dependent on charge stations , which can be hard to come by , never mind the time it takes to supply a charge . Today , a long-distance road trip calls for significant pit stops for power .
M-BEAM , or Modular Battery Exchange and Active Management , may very well revolutionize electric vehicle technology by using smaller , rechargeable units , or modules , within the battery . “ It ’ s similar to your standard triple-A , double-A batteries that everyone is used to ,” says Raymond de Callafon , project leader and mechanical engineering professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego . “[ M-BEAM ] batteries are just much larger voltage , much higher currents .”
And electric vehicles are just the start of modular technology ’ s potential . According to M-BEAM collaborator Lou Shrinkle , ’ 74 , CEO of Pacific Battery Management Systems , the technology could eliminate the use of fossil fuels for energy storage systems in general , in cases such as solar backup and portable generators .
The full benefit of M-BEAM may still be some miles away , but its project engineers plan to showcase their current technology by taking a modular-outfitted Volkswagen Golf on a 2,472-mile , coast-to-coast road trip . The team is currently gathering the remaining funds needed for the trip , and hoping to attract more sponsors for a grand tour of M-BEAM in action . Learn more at modularexchange . com suCCess !
M-BEAM ’ s first phase was successfully funded through Crowdsurf , UC San Diego ’ s philanthropic crowdfunding platform for Triton initiatives . Visit CROWDSuRF . uCSD . EDu to be a part of what ’ s next !
And with battery modules that can be swapped out as easily as those in your TV remote , M-BEAM technology hopes to extend the range that electric cars can travel , indefinitely .
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