A 20-year old Romanian named Raul Oaida recently caught my attention by posting a YouTube video of a life-size car he made out of more than 500,000 Lego pieces. Here's the real kicker though, the car was powered by a compressed air powered engine. I've been discussing compressing air for battery storage (see recent podcast) and believe the Lego story could be indicative of more effective battery solutions which can be used by both automakers and even utility players looking to store more power.
Nissan (NSANY) has been using air-cooled batteries in the all-electric Leaf sedan, but there have been reports that use in hot or cold climates may degrade battery capacity. Tesla Motors (TSLA 2.15%), which uses liquid-cooled batteries in the Model S and has publicly called the Leaf battery "primitive", was granted a patent thus summer which suggests the automaker may be bringing metal-air battery technology to future vehicles in order to significantly boost range even further. Since Tesla can't rely on Panasonic alone for batteries, the Lego car shows that innovation is possible and that's really the bet when it comes to investing in all electric vehicles.
Outside of innovation, how will these 2 car companies succeed?
