Israeli Firm Makes Kilomile Claims For Electric Car Battery Tech

cylonlover writes with this tantalizing excerpt from GizMag "Israel-based company Phinergy claims to have developed metal-air battery technology that promises to end the range anxiety associated with electric vehicles. The company's battery currently consists of 50 aluminum plates, each providing energy for around 20 miles (32 km) of driving. This adds up to a total potential range of 1,000 miles (1,609 km), with stops required only every couple of hundred miles to refill the system with water."

Comments

batteries are not rechargable

[mrvan]

From TFA (I know, but there were no comments yet ;-):

The company says the aluminum plate anodes in its aluminum-air battery have an energy density of 8 kWh/kg, but the batteries are not rechargeable. Once the energy is expended, the plates, which add up to around 55 pounds (25 kg) per battery, need to be replaced. However, the company points out that aluminum is easily recyclable and that swapping the battery out for a fresh one is quicker than recharging.

That makes it a lot less appealing, I would say...

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[santax]

It will depend on the price. If I can get a new battery like I would get a new gas-container for my cooking needs, no problemo. Just as long as it's at a reasonable price.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[Ksevio]

That would be a big downside - however, they also say they can get it a 200 mile range using Lithium ion batteries which is respectable. It could be that this one time use battery is to quell the complaints of people who say "But what if I want to road trip 500 miles into the middle of no-where!"

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[rlwhite]

The article says the battery contains 55 lb of aluminum. The price of aluminum currently fluctuates in the general vicinity of $1 per lb, so we're talking at least $50 in raw materials. Add in other materials, manufacturing costs, and profit, and I'm going to guess a $100 battery is not out of the question. Maybe $75 if we're lucky. That sounds high as a gas replacement initially, but if it truly gets 1,000 miles on the aluminum battery and we compare it to a gas-sipping car (we'll say 50mpg), the gas at $3.50/gal would cost $70 for 1,000 miles. When you consider how few cars in the US get that good of mileage and the ever-climbing price of gas, we are probably somewhere close to a break-even point economically.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

That's ridiculous, given how energy-intensive it is to produce aluminum in the first place, and that if it was widely adopted you'd need a huge supply of ready-to-swap aluminum batteries. My suspicion: this isn't really a "battery", it's just recovering some of the substantial energy in the aluminum metal itself.

That's what all batteries do, electrochemically recover, at a rate more or less matched to the application, the chemical potential energy of what they are filled with. Some are also capable of being driven in reverse, to restore them to their original state. Others depend on electrochemistry that isn't so neatly reversible within the confines of a conveniently sized battery, and have to be broken down for recycling. Aluminum is the latter, unless you are willing to pop an entire aluminum smelter into your battery bay.

Aluminum makes the point particularly obvious because the most cost-effective refining process is very similar indeed to driving an aluminum-air battery in reverse, so the amount of electricity going in is blatantly visible(unlike metals for which non-electrochemical refining processes are preferred).

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[robot256]

Putting some aluminum plates in a bucket of acid is a lot simpler than an internal combustion engine. No moving parts, no maintenance (even when you're not using it), no exhaust or emissions to regulate. People take gas engines for granted, but the honest truth is that they are ridiculously overcomplicated if all you want it to get from point A to point B. Electric motors win every time, so long as you can give them enough electrons.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[serviscope_minor]

What you did not add though, is the cost of the energy that is stored in those batteries.

He did: the price of bulk refined aluminium includes the energy cost of the electricity used to refine it.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[Aardpig]

Hang on a sec; the *battery* contains 55lb of Al, and the *battery* provides power for 1,000 miles. So, that translates to 0.055 lb/mile, which is significantly smaller than gasoline.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[jabuzz]

Except these batteries generate electricity by turning aluminium into aluminium oxide. Admittedly it will be nice pure oxide that can go straight back to the electrolytic smelter to be turned back into aluminium. However it cannot be just melted back into aluminium and is more like $300 per tonne.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Ever seen a beer can? Aluminum. Producing aluminum from bauxite is energy-intensive, recycling aluminum is not.

Except that the waste product of this battery is aluminium oxide, so you have to reduce it again. It's no different from bauxite in that respect.

Re:batteries are not rechargable

[Solandri]

Congratulations. You have "discovered" what space programs have already known for decades - the Gibbs free energy change of elemental aluminum converted to aluminum chloride or aluminum oxide is massive. Among the largest there is for a chemical reaction. Several times greater than that of hydrogen converted to water or carbon dioxide (which is the basis for energy release in hydrocarbon fuels). That's why aluminum is a popular fuel in solid rocket boosters. On a per-mole basis, it's much better at storing energy. And it's still pretty competitive on a per-weight basis.

Re: Unit of measure confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

A kilo is not a unit, it is a prefix meaning 10^3. One kilomile = 1000 miles.

Re:Sounds promising

[mlts]

The process of refining bauxite to get aluminum is extremely energy intensive. Other than having a pure oxide to put in, it almost is pointless to bother recycling the "battery".

This is one of the last things I want to see in widespread use, unless we have modern nuclear plants, fusion, or some other next gen energy source, just because turning aluminum oxide back to a usable metal uses so much electricity.

Re: Unit of measure confusion

[ArcadeMan]

So you are also okay with a decipound, two kiloinches and three millifeet?

Kilomile?

[AnotherShep]

Who the fuck came up with that dumb word? Someone needs a nice hearty punch in the dick for that.

Re:freepalestina

[losfromla]

omg! They have the audacity to destroy the economy of a group of people whose land they happen to be illegally occupying. Zomg! They have the audacity to decide they like any piece of land being farmed by a Palestinian and illegally raze the land and put up new condos for their "settlers". Zomg^2! They can roll up to any Palestinian occupied farm, park their mobile home, claim harassment and soon have a garrison of Israeli stormtroopers protecting "their" newly settled land. Not to mention the bombing of innocent women and children.

We don't measure miles in kilos

[Cajun Hell]

640 miles should be enough for anyone.

Re:freepalestina

[a_mari_usque_ad_mare]

Clue time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantustan

  The South Africans claimed that blacks, coloured, Indians, etc., were not their citizens. They were in fact citizens of powerless, discontinuous territories that were basically controlled by South Africa. Since there was no work in these bantustans, the majority of their population commuted through South African checkpoints each day. They also claimed increasing amounts of territory for their own minority, ethnically defined population.

Also, Israeli's dominant, "centre right" party Likud claims that God wants Jewish Israelis to have all the territory for themselves (all of what was previously British Palestine). South African Boer culture included similar thoughts.

The parallels are not unreasonable.

Re:'Refill with water every 200 mi'

[Jeremi]

Get a bigger water tank, and automatic refill system. Or maybe I'm thinking too simple now?

You're not thinking simple enough. Hint: The driver is sucking down a 64 ounce Big Gulp every two hours...

Re: Unit of measure confusion

[Anubis IV]

And you're not? Surely you use KB, MB, GB, and TB on a regular basis, and they're far greater affronts to uniformity and consistency of prefix usage than any of the examples you've cited, all of which are technically correct despite being non-traditional.

Re:SI vs. US customary?

[emho24]

Yeah but megametre sounds much cooler. Like Megadeth, Megatron, Megaboz ...