Rholab Tests Lead Acid Battery Hybrid

The planned 50,000-mile test of a valve-regulated lead acid battery in a Honda Insight hybrid-electric car at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, U.K., will culminate Rholab, the three-year European Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium project.

Rholab hopes to demonstrate that VRLA batteries can be a viable alternative to the more expensive nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) power packs used in the first generation hybrids from Honda and Toyota.

Rholab partners include Hawker Batteries, Provector, and the universities of Warwick and Sheffield. Rholab operated as part of the DTI-funded Foresight Vehicle Programme. A successor project to Rholab, called Isolab, will build on the Rholab developments.