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New Manufacturing Technique Halves Cost of Lithium-Ion Batteries
An anonymous reader writes: Experts in materials science at MIT have developed a new process for creating lithium-ion batteries that will drop the associated production costs by half. The researchers say fundamental battery construction techniques have been refined over the past two decades, but not re-thought. "The new battery design is a hybrid between flow batteries and conventional solid ones: In this version, while the electrode material does not flow, it is composed of a similar semisolid, colloidal suspension of particles. Chiang and Carter refer to this as a 'semisolid battery.' This approach greatly simplifies manufacturing, and also makes batteries that are flexible and resistant to damage, says Chiang. ... Instead of the standard method of applying liquid coatings to a roll of backing material, and then having to wait for that material to dry before it can move to the next manufacturing step, the new process keeps the electrode material in a liquid state and requires no drying stage at all. Using fewer, thicker electrodes, the system reduces the conventional battery architecture's number of distinct layers, as well as the amount of nonfunctional material in the structure, by 80 percent."
I'm going to call Bullshit on the price claims.
Reality... Experts at MIT have developed an idea that looks very promising as a source for funding dollars.
That's how it works.
If this pans out it probably means the end to the claims that solar PV and wind power can't affordably supply us with all of our electricity needs. It also makes electric cars all that much more affordable. Elon Musk may need to redesign his battery factory.
So, they can make a battery using the same chemicals, but will it hold the same charge? Didn't see anything in the linked article about it. All it said is that it is cheaper to make, more durable, and works better in applications where space and weight (i.e. cars) are an issue.
Apparently they made 10k of them already as prototypes, wouldn't there be a comparison some where?
Hello,
May I please have a Beowulf Cluster of these?
Regards,
Elon
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Modern app appers know that the appiest apps are powered by apps, not Luddite batteries!
Apps!
Even if this is true, it will not cut the cost of batteries in half. It only cuts the cost of manufacturing. The trouble is, most of the cost of batteries comes from the raw materials. So I wouldn't expect a huge drop in cost to the consumer.
"New Manufacturing Technique Doubles Profit of Lithium-Ion Batteries"
There, now it feels right.
Also from TFA, they have made 10,000 samples on their production line. They are initially aiming at the power company market, thus huge batteries with huge price tags. They are targeting $100 per kilowatt hour by 2020. One of the co-founders also co-founded A123. So there is some experience at bringing batteries to market.
Lots of companies fail for reasons besides their technology. I won't be surprised if this one fails too. On the other hand, it is more real than most such slashdot stories.
Most of the announcements by Eastern/South East Asian Academicians, either in east/south east Asia, or in the states, are normally just total BS.
However, Dr. Chiang is the exact opposite. When he speaks, it is always straight forward R&D that he has done. Basically, this is something will make a big difference in batteries.
Now, I wonder, what kind of impact this will have on Tesla and the gigafactory?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
My cycle needed a new battery. Major brand lead-acid replacements were ~$120, off brands less. But I found a lithium-iron with three times the cranking capacity and the same case size for $140. It also carried a three-year replacement guarantee, instead of a lead-acid's typical 6-month one, as cycles' vibration and lack of winter use kill L-As in a year, typically, And, a great benefit to cycles, it weighed ten pounds less, making a reduction in the total weight of the bike by ~2 per cent.
So far (two weeks) I have no complaints.
24M doesn't just lower manufacturing costs. Headlines make it sound like manufacturing costs will decrease but reliability and longevity stay the same which is not the case. They call this new batter semi solid flow cells for a reason. This battery is more for home and utility use than cars because it cannot sustain large temperature swings car batteries have to endure.
Uh, no. The real costs is the high temps that are needed. Lithium itself is relatively cheap and relatively little is used. For example, most li-ion batteries are only about 1/20 lithium. So, in the nissan leaf, it only uses 9 lbs of lithium. At current price of 300/lb, that is only $2700 of lithium. So, why does their batteries costs 15,000? Because of the processing that is required. The costs of a li-ion battery is about 2/5 chemicals and 3/5 (or more) in processing costs.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
From the article:
"By 2020, Chiang estimates that 24M will be able to produce batteries for less than $100 per kilowatt-hour of capacity"
That's a pretty bold claim considering a 1KW lithium ion battery currently cost 10x that.
It won't cut CONSUMER cost in half, it'll just double profits.
Proposed new manufacturing technique could theoretically halve cost of lithium-ion batteries. Things always look better in academia than in practice.
Due to a fold in space time, another Star Trek invention willun on has been invented.
They've already spun off a company that's producing the batteries RIGHT NOW. You'd know that if you had RTFA instead of rushing to show strangers on the Internet what a world-weary cynic you are (which, by the way, you're not).
Where does cost of lithium end up $300 / lb, i.e. ~ $660 / kg ?
I'm seeing prices of bulk lithium carbonate at $6000 per metric ton, i.e. about $6 per kg.
Molecular weight of lithium carbonate is about 74, which has two lithiums in it at about 6.9 each, so total lithium is ~13.8 of the 74,
so cost of elemental lithium ignoring reduction costs is ~ $32 per kg.
Where do you get anything near $300 / lb?
No doubt Apple will use this improvement in high-demand technology to justify a price hike.
Elon Musk buys the patent so his new mega factory isn't obsolete before it's finished
This could truly revolutionary but they left out some really important information. The most relevant is how many full-depletion cycle can it take?
To see why lets assume the battery can supply 3000 full-depletion cycles (The A123 batteries did). Then our generic $100, 1 KWHr battery can deliver 3000 KWHr of electricity on demand.
So that is $100.00/(3000 KWHr) = $0.03 / KWHr or 3 cents per KWHr
That is way less than a gas-fired peaking power plant. So if these guys can pull off 3000 cycles at $100 per KWHr they'll create a 100 billion dollar per year market and won't be able to keep up with demand.
If you qualify, which you will if you're even considering buying the car.
It was attached to a PDP 11/70
You gotta be Li-ion!
That is just the government handing me back my own money, it isn't a savings.
And as I have stated on many occasions, if EV sales ever grow to anything more than a rounding error, that credit will vanish.
What is even worse, is that WITH that tax credit, EV sales are STILL less than 1% of vehicle sales in the US.
People don't want EVs, not as they exist today. The sales figures don't lie.
Yeah, extended oil change intervals are a thing, but by force of habit I still tend to figure on one every three months. Of course, I do mine every 5k miles, irregardless of time.
I don't read AC A human right