Battery technology, the next generation of vehicular power

Battery technology today has hit a point where small gadgets will not be enough for its uses, considering the battery of yesterday needs to be different for todays uses. Although small gadgets tend to consume less power its more likely peoples demands for longer lasting power are not diminishing. While the convenience of rechargeable batteries and wireless induced power top-up our phones, its likely we are now putting unreasonable power demands for our vehicles.

The over priced cost of fossil fuels to enable us to travel has some scientists rethinking the battery usage paradigm. Electric vehicles of yesterday were limited to milk vans at neighborhood distances, the lead acid battery allowed the early vans to economically recharge and reuse the battery for repeated use. Moving forward to todays evolved vehicles the electric car was once a slow progressing concept has now become, some technological equivalent to a swan that has blossomed to the Tesla electric vehicle. Although the dream of having electric car feels real, the reality is that the £20,000 car is only as good as its battery. Consider the battery in such a vehicle is different to normal petrol cars, we have to compare the energy density of a kilogram weight of a lithium ion battery to a kilogram of petrol.
While uranium 235 (nuclear power) has a energy density of 79,500,000 mega joules per kilogram, lithium ion has 0.72 mega joules per kilogram, compared to petrol at a respectable 35 mega joules. 
The idea of a replacement for petrol with todays battery technology seems overwhelming when looking at the figures and comparing energy densities. Zinc–air batteries (non-rechargeable), and zinc–air fuel cells, (mechanically-rechargeable) are electro-chemical batteries powered by oxidizing zinc with oxygen from the air. These batteries have high energy densities and are relatively inexpensive to produce. Sizes range from very small button cells for hearing aids, larger batteries used in film cameras that previously used mercury batteries, to very large batteries used for electric vehicle propulsion with an energy density of 1.692, 4.932 MJ/kg

Metallic zinc could be used as an alternative fuel for vehicles, either in a zinc–air battery or to generate hydrogen near the point of use. Zinc's characteristics have motivated considerable interest as an energy source for electric vehicles. Gulf General Atomic demonstrated a 20 kW vehicle battery. General Motors conducted tests in the 1970s. Neither project led to a commercial product.
Meanwhile a Swiss company says it has developed rechargeable zinc-air batteries that can store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much. ReVolt, of Staefa, Switzerland, plans to sell small "button cell" batteries for hearing aids starting next year and to incorporate its technology into ever larger batteries, introducing cell-phone and electric bicycle batteries in the next few years. It is also starting to develop large-format batteries for electric vehicles.

The battery design is based on technology developed at SINTEF, a research institute in Trondheim, Norway. ReVolt was founded to bring it to market and so far has raised 24 million euros in investment. James McDougall, the company's CEO, says that the technology overcomes the main problem with zinc-air rechargeable batteries--that they typically stop working after relatively few charges. If the technology can be scaled up, zinc-air batteries could make electric vehicles more practical by lowering their costs and increasing their range.

Unlike conventional batteries, which contain all the reactants needed to generate electricity, zinc-air batteries rely on oxygen from the atmosphere to generate current.
The battery chemistry is also relatively safe because it doesn't require volatile materials, so zinc-air batteries are not prone to catching fire like lithium-ion batteries.
Because of these advantages, nonrechargeable zinc-air batteries have long been on the market. But making them rechargeable has been a challenge. Inside the battery, a porous "air" electrode draws in oxygen and, with the help of catalysts at the interface between the air and a water-based electrolyte, reduces it to form hydroxyl ions. These travel through an electrolyte to the zinc electrode, where the zinc is oxidized--a reaction that releases electrons to generate a current. For recharging, the process is reversed: zinc oxide is converted back to zinc and oxygen is released at the air electrode. But after repeated charge and discharge cycles, the air electrode can become deactivated, slowing or stopping the oxygen reactions. This can be due, for example, to the liquid electrolyte being gradually pulled too far into the pores, Henriksen says. The battery can also fail if it dries out or if zinc builds up unevenly, forming branch-like structures that create a short circuit between the electrodes.

ReVolt says it has developed methods for controlling the shape of the zinc electrode (by using certain gelling and binding agents) and for managing the humidity within the cell. It has also tested a new air electrode that has a combination of carefully dispersed catalysts for improving the reduction of oxygen from the air during discharge and for boosting the production of oxygen during charging. Prototypes have operated well for over one hundred cycles, and the company’s first products are expected to be useful for a couple of hundred cycles. McDougall hopes to increase this to between 300 and 500 cycles, which will make them useful for mobile phones and electric bicycles.

For electric vehicles, ReVolt is developing a novel battery structure that resembles that of a fuel cell. Its first batteries use two flat electrodes, which are comparable in size. In the new batteries, one electrode will be a liquid–a zinc slurry. The air electrodes will be in the form of tubes. To generate electricity, the zinc slurry, which is stored in one compartment in the battery, is pumped through the tubes where it’s oxidized, forming zinc oxide and releasing electrons. The zinc oxide then accumulates in another compartment in the battery. During recharging, the zinc oxide flows back through the air electrode, where it releases the oxygen, forming zinc again.

In the company’s planned vehicle battery, the amount of zinc slurry can be much greater than the amount of material in the air electrode, increasing energy density. Indeed, the system would be like a fuel-cell system or a conventional engine, in that the zinc slurry would essentially act as a fuel–pumping through the air electrode like the hydrogen in a fuel cell or the gasoline in a combustion engine. The batteries could also last longer–from 2,000 to 10,000 cycles. And, if one part fails–such as the air electrode–it could be replaced, eliminating the need to buy a whole new battery. While large zinc deposits in the US could give the country a cash injection in terms of an alternative to fossil fuels. IBM have been working on a batter based on Lithium air technology.

The major appeal of the Li-air battery is the extremely high energy density, a measure of the amount of energy a battery can store for a given volume, which rivals that of traditional gasoline powered engines. Li-air batteries gain this advantage in energy density since they use oxygen from the air instead of storing an oxidizer internally.
While the energy density of gasoline is approximately 13 kWh/kg, which corresponds to 1.7 kWh/kg of energy provided to the wheels when accounting for losses. The theoretical energy density of the lithium-air battery is 12 kWh/kg excluding the oxygen mass. It has been theorized that a practical energy density of 1.7 kWh/kg at the wheels of an automobile could be realized when accounting for over-potentials, other cell components, battery pack ancillaries, and the much higher efficiency of electric motors.

Stan Whittingham, professor of chemistry and material science at the State University New York,spoke of the possibility that the expected power density of lithium air may not be the same as petrol.
A more realistic estimate is the 800 watt hours per kilogram that startup PolyPlus is hoping to achieve. PolyPlus received a Department of Energy grant to work on encapsulating the lithium electrode to create a more stable battery system.
Whittingham said lithium air batteries might find good uses elsewhere, just not in cars. Whittingham also looked to “IBM is one of the culprits for hyping,” lithium air battery technology for electric cars. Even if IBM delivers on this technology, everyone agrees that commercializing lithium air batteries will take a long time. IBM said its project won’t likely lead to a commercial product until 2020 or 2030.
The 10 or 20 year commercial expectancy of the next generation of batteries (with Lithium Air system) might be a slight disappointment, considering most cars will not last that long. While todays electric vehicles can reach high speeds and give hope of a clean future. Lithium ion doesn't promise the sustainable replacement of fossil fuel. This current age we live holds many wonders and ideas but still feels like a technological no mans land between the gadgets we want and the science we know already. The zinc battery is the closest  we have to an alternative to lithium ion, but again progress feels slow. The probable solution I suspect will lay in increasing surface area on the nano scale, thus allow more electrochemical interactions between anode and cathode. The problem is to oxygenate the system to unlock the energy density, hopefully we might get a working prototype soonish...

Electric cars, an expensive alternative to fossil fuel

In the good old days in England when fuel less then a pound around 2008 the supermarkets had a price war on fuel the cost was 89 per liter of fuel. This year, the cost had peaked up to £1.42 because of the potential Fuel tanker shrike that didn't happen. In the start of June prices shrink down £1.33, but because of the embargo in Iran and the situation of the Eurozone. World news effects prices and it filters down to the consumer.

People struggle every week on the cost of living and in some ways are effected by the rise in fuel prices , which raises the cost of transport of food and other consumer good in the markets.

Which I guess why Tesla (a electric car company ) are making a bold prediction that  in 20 years time  new cars will be fully electric. Chief Executive Elon Musk, an entrepreneur known for his outsized ambition. Last friday made a forecast battery powered cars will likely match the internal combustion engine.

Musk, co Founder the startup of Pay-pal, divides his time between Tesla and his space exploration startup Space X.
Electric cars were popular in the 19th century  and early 20th century, until early advances of the internal combustion engine technology. With mass production and cheap gasoline vehicles led the decline of electric cars. But energy crisis of the 70s and 80s brought a short lived interest in electric cars. This grew further in mid 2000s a renewed enthusiasm, due to rapidly increasing oil prices and to reduce green house gas emissions.
Companies including Tesla Roadster, Mitsubishi i MiEV, Nissan Leaf, Renault Fluence Z.E. Ford Focus Electric, BMW ActiveE, not to mention a few more are available. The nissan leaf sold 27,000 units worldwide by early April 2012. The Mitsubishi i MiEV sold 17,000 units through october 2011.

The electric car has several benefits, compared with internal combustion cars. They have a slight reduction on air pollution, they do not emit harmful pollutants. They reduce greenhouse gases, depending on the technology charging the batteries, finally they do not relay on oil.
Despite the advantages, widespread adoption of electric cars faces several hurdles and limitations. Electric cars are significantly more expensive then conventional internal combustion engine and hybrid electric vehicles in 2011. This is because of the cost of Lithium ion battery packs, however prices seem to be dropping. Other factors such as the recharging infrastructure, or limited number of electric car showrooms may contribute to the reluctance of a electric changeover. Several government have established policies and economical incentives to promote the sales of electric cars. They are to fund further development of electric vehicles and more cost effective battery components. The US pledged $2.4 billion in federal grants, while China will provide US$15 billion to initiate an electric car industry within its borders.

Lithium ion battery technology seems to provide high energy density is relatively low in weight but is durable for 400 to 1200 cycles. Normally situated in handheld electronics, they are widely available, suffer no memory effect. In the way of losing  its recharge effectiveness despite not fully discharging the battery.
They also have the disadvantage of a limited charge cycle and efficiency might drop in high temperatures.
They also need a battery power management system  to prevent operation out side the safety limits. In extreme cases Lithium ion batteries can rupture or explode when exposed to high temperature.

There have be talk about alternative options to lithium ion, molten salt batteries with an operating temperature of 400 to 700 degrees C are a promising technology. They have problems of thermal management but recent  battery such as the ZEBRA battery operate 245 degree C, with a higher charge cycle of 3000.

Zinc bromie is a hybrid  electrochemical battery, they have a high energy density relative to lead acid batteries, have a high charge cycle life of 2000 no shelf life limitations like lithium ion.

What ever the future claims on transportation, there is a certainty of a countdown to the end of crude oil and fossil fuels. Technology has given us a faster electric car in the form of a tesla roadster clocking at 102 miles an hour for quarter of a mile, can travel around about 200 miles on one charge. It seems impressive that that electric car technology can complete with the combustion engine. Though at £86,950 I am thinking technology is not quite there. I do hope that battery technology becomes safer and cheaper then the current lithium ion standard, which seems to be the key thing for it to be a success. Until then I will carry on with my fossil fuel driven car and hope that I don't ruin the planet too much.