China is likely to become the largest market for plug-in electric vehicles thanks to a larger relative government investment, but will trail the U.S. in hybrid sales.

The Chinese government announced it will spend $14.7 billion through 2020 on alternative drivetrain vehicles, with the bulk of the money going towards all-electric vehicles, according to news reports quoted (more…)

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have developed a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes that enables lithium-ion batteries to deliver ten times more power than a conventional battery.

If produced on an industrial scale, these carbon nanotube electrodes could significantly extend the range of electric vehicles, the MIT scientists say.

Reporting in the journal, Nature Nanotechnology, the MIT researchers write that the secret to their technology is that their carbon nanotubes contain a very high surface area for storing and reacting with lithium.

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In advance of this fall’s launch of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, lithium ion battery manufacturers are breaking ground on manufacturing plants nearly every month.

Nearly $2 billion in stimulus funding has spurred the building of facilities in Michigan and Indiana that will start churning out battery packs by the end of the year, but the escalation in production has the potential to outstrip the demand for the batteries by as early as 2012.

As I said during yesterday’s interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” the battery companies have understandable but potentially misguided motivations to quickly ramp up production. For battery companies to receive the full amount of stimulus grants and loans, they must meet specified goals for production capacity.

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Just as your mileage varies by where and how you drive, so might the performance of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid’s batteries.

The batteries in the GM vehicle due out in a year (November 2010) will have at least 10 years of life, according to company representatives who briefed the media on Tuesday. But vehicle owners who live in temperate climates are likely to see their batteries last much longer.

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Ford is driving closer to its goal of producing an all-electric car with the announcement of an electric van for North America for 2010. The Ford Transit Connect BEV will incorporate a drivetrain from Azure Dynamics and lithium ion batteries from Johnson Controls-Saft.

The van will get 80 miles before needing to be charged and will be sold into fleets, according to Ford Manager of corporate news Jennifer Moore. She said Ford will produce the van in low volumes and has not announced any customers so far.

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