Toshiba’s SCiB 24V/4.2Ah module will be installed in the Tailwind, a new electric bicycle Cannondale Sports Group will bring to market under the Schwinn Bicycles brand. Commercial launch of the Tailwind is scheduled for early 2009.

Cannondale Sports Group, a global provider of branded bicycles and a division of Dorel Industries, Inc., has selected the new Toshiba fast-charging SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery) lithium-ion battery ( earlier post ) to provide the power battery module for a new electric bicycle for the North American and European markets.

For the SCiB, Toshiba adopted a new lithium-titanate anode material offering a high level of thermal stability; a high flash point electrolyte; and a structure resistant to internal short circuiting and thermal runaway.

Toshiba claims that the SCiB has an input-output performance equivalent to that of an electric double layer capacitor. This feature is suited to high-power applications. However, cell voltage is only 2.4 V (the anode is 1.4 V versus lithium) and it has a low capacity density of about half that of graphite.

Capacity loss after 3,000 cycles of rapid charge and discharge is less than 10%. SCiB has a long cycle life, and is able to repeat the charge-discharge cycle more than 6,000 times.

The SCiB is housed in an SCiB Battery Module comprising ten 4.2 ampere-hour (Ah) SCiB cells aligned in series connection, plus a battery management system.

The safety characteristics of SCiB allow recharge with a current as large as 50A, allowing the SCiB Cell and SCiB Standard Module to recharge to 90% of full capacity in only five minutes, according to Toshiba. Toshiba is developing a 3.0 Ah high-power version of the SCiB cell specifically for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications.

Toshiba says that it intends to extend the application of the high-power SCiB to electric cars in the future, after advancing development of a higher-performance SCiB cell.

SCiB and the Schwinn Tailwind electric bike, the first commercial application of SCiB, is on display at Interbike 2008 (24-26 September), the largest bicycle trade show in North America.