Thoughts on this power technology?

[TheDude]

Might be the ticket.

 

[Grandma]

I think the water would require heavy filtering, aluminum corrodes fairly easily.

 

[TheDude]

I'd have to watch it again, but I believe the point was carbon dioxide eats away at metal, and they filter it out.

 

[jbander]

Its problem is high cost, and waste removal.

 

[TheDude]

Its problem is high cost, and waste removal.

No doubt high cost, in the short term at least. What kinds of waste removal?

 

[flacaltenn]

Digging a bit deeper below the marketing hype what you find is that this IS a type of primary battery. One that creates energy by "consuming" aluminum. But the proposed use is as a 220 pound "range extender" for EVs, rather than a replacement for lithium ion rechargeables.

That 220 pound consumption of Aluminum gets the equiivalent of about 8 FULL charges of the lithium battery stack in a small EV like the Volt. And would be only be used as a "RESERVE" when you are no where near a charging source.

Metal-air battery tech is actually old. But this Israeli company has done some nice things about weight, and making the batteries easily recyclable.. ALTHOUGH major recycling, should the technology catch on would still be an environmental stress since it takes more energy to MAKE the aluminum --- than you get back out of it.

More at --- Renault-Nissan To Use Phinergy’s Aluminum-Air Battery - HybridCars.com

 

[flacaltenn]

The major problem is to get drivers to NOT RELY on driving with the "Reserve". And we all know how this will be abused. Resulting in high costs of replacement when the battery poofs earlier than the marketing geniuses will calculate and advertise.. Some drivers will never understand the extreme costs associated with driving on the "reserve"..

 

[TheDude]

You sound like an engineer or equal. Thanks for the information. I'll read up on it, try and understand it better.

"But unlike bread slices you would eat, the company has developed a carbon-neutral electric car battery which slowly consumes slices of aluminum and yields several-times more energy density than the best lithium-ion batteries.

Based on work begun in Israel in 2008, the company is collaborating with Alcoa on this cost-effective and safe energy source. It’s being proposed as a range extender – not a primary propulsion battery – to automakers, including Renault-Nissan.

As for the “slice” of aluminum analogy, that’s an oversimplification, but it is more accurate than other reports that have said Phinergy’s 1,100-plus-mile range range-extended electric car runs merely on “air” or “water.”

Almost that amazing, Phinergy’s aluminum-air battery combines de-ionized (drinkable) water into an alkaline electrolyte solution and breathes in air to create a chemical reaction that dissolves aluminum plates to produce electricity."