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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
byPhantomHarlock ( 189617 ) writes:
Light passenger rail is ideal for batteries. With lightweight trains and low rolling resistance, coupled with regenerative braking, it should be pretty easy on the batteries. The only issue would be the batteries catching fire underground...might be better for surface transport.
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
LFP batteries are very unlikely to catch fire. You can find videos of people trying on YouTube, attacking them with power tools. One I saw only managed to set the plastic housing on fire with a blowtorch, the battery itself didn't ignite.
Plus most of the London Underground is actually above ground.
There is a train using batteries in Japan. It's not light rail, it's a conventional high-ish speed train. There is a section of the track that isn't electrified, which it uses a battery to bridge.
byyuvcifjt ( 4161545 ) writes:
Did a bit more research, turns out, these trains were originally built by Vivarail [hoppecke.com] (using Hoppecke NMC battery tech) before being acquired by GWR.
LFP batteries aren't able to charge as fast, especially under 5 minutes using an enormous 2 MW (2000 kW) charger.
For comparison:
* A Tesla Supercharger V3: 250 kW [wikipedia.org]
* A modern electric bus with LFP: 300-450 kW
So the GWR train is charging at 5x the power of a modern fast-charging bus, and 8x a Tesla.
LFP charges at a slower pace, is a lot heavier, and has lower energy a
byshilly ( 142940 ) writes:
Did you not read the article you posted to?! It literally says the following:
"Undoubtedly, fast charge is an exciting innovation. Capability is up to 2000kW. This compact system is powered by three of our 70kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery rafts. Each has the capacity to store 84kWh. Accordingly, 504kWh is available for use by the train’s four AC traction motors. The system incorporates two battery racks on each driving vehicle. Only two vehicles are in use at any time. The third is a spare."
Lithium-ion phosphate is LFP, not NMC.
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