According to Long Hard Road, the intercalation battery was invented by Ford in the early 1960s. Ford even developed a prototype electric car using it. The battery operated at about 450F, the temperature of a hot oven. It was full of hot sulphur. You can imagine what Ralph Nader or perhaps Christian evangelicals would have made of that if…
According to Long Hard Road, the intercalation battery was invented by Ford in the early 1960s. Ford even developed a prototype electric car using it. The battery operated at about 450F, the temperature of a hot oven. It was full of hot sulphur. You can imagine what Ralph Nader or perhaps Christian evangelicals would have made of that if it had been widely adopted.
The main developments in battery technology since then until recently have been better NiCad batteries - I remember how amazing they were to me in the late 1960s - NiMH batteries, and alkaline batteries. Lithium ion batteries didn't get developed until someone had a problem and needed a smaller, more powerful battery, and that was the Japanese who needed them for handheld camcorders. It resembles the way electric motors were reinvented after people started putting them in desktop computer disk drives.
It was a niche application that pushed development for the same reason that NASA was alone developing solar power for satellites or integrated circuits for lunar landing platforms in the 1960s. Lead acid batteries were more than adequate for stationary power backup. If you visited a telephone exchange, you'd see rack after rack of conventional car batteries. Compare a circa 1990 handheld video camcorder with a circa 2000 handheld video camcorder. A VHS tape cartridge fit comfortably in the former, but a much smaller recording format was needed for the latter.
I think people underestimate the attraction of good enough technology. It's hard to sell a better mousetrap when the existing ones have kept mice well under control. You can find countless examples of technological stasis and then stasis ended by a new application.
According to Long Hard Road, the intercalation battery was invented by Ford in the early 1960s. Ford even developed a prototype electric car using it. The battery operated at about 450F, the temperature of a hot oven. It was full of hot sulphur. You can imagine what Ralph Nader or perhaps Christian evangelicals would have made of that if it had been widely adopted.
The main developments in battery technology since then until recently have been better NiCad batteries - I remember how amazing they were to me in the late 1960s - NiMH batteries, and alkaline batteries. Lithium ion batteries didn't get developed until someone had a problem and needed a smaller, more powerful battery, and that was the Japanese who needed them for handheld camcorders. It resembles the way electric motors were reinvented after people started putting them in desktop computer disk drives.
It was a niche application that pushed development for the same reason that NASA was alone developing solar power for satellites or integrated circuits for lunar landing platforms in the 1960s. Lead acid batteries were more than adequate for stationary power backup. If you visited a telephone exchange, you'd see rack after rack of conventional car batteries. Compare a circa 1990 handheld video camcorder with a circa 2000 handheld video camcorder. A VHS tape cartridge fit comfortably in the former, but a much smaller recording format was needed for the latter.
I think people underestimate the attraction of good enough technology. It's hard to sell a better mousetrap when the existing ones have kept mice well under control. You can find countless examples of technological stasis and then stasis ended by a new application.