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Eugene

(61,823 posts)
Sun Feb 24, 2019, 10:06 PM Feb 2019

New refillable batteries could fuel an electric car revolution

Source: NBC News

New refillable batteries could fuel an electric car revolution

New technology promises an end to motorists' 'range anxiety.'

Feb. 23, 2019, 5:56 AM EST
By Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky

Electric vehicles are easier on the environment than their gasoline-powered counterparts, but their long charging times and the scarcity of charging stations can make life hard for the eco-conscious motorists who drive them.

Now help may be on the horizon. Scientists are working to develop refillable, or so-called flow, batteries that can be refueled in minutes at a vast network of converted gas stations. It’s a shift that could make electric vehicles (EVs) more attractive to drivers who are wary of long charging times.

“You drive 300 miles, drain your tank and pump in new [liquid] — as long as it would take to fill your car with gasoline — and drive off,” says John Cushman, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and mathematics at Purdue and a leading researcher on liquid battery technology.

Lee Cronin, a chemist at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and another leading researcher on the technology, agrees. He says flow batteries “would turn EVs into the cultural equivalent of a fuel car. Your range anxiety would be gone. And you have the existing pipe infrastructure for moving liquids around” — a reference to the service stations now in existence that could be retrofitted to pump the battery liquid instead of gasoline.

-snip-

Modern flow batteries have been around since the 1980s. Their long lifespans and easy recharging mean they’re well suited for large-scale energy storage. But they’ve always been too big and too heavy for use in vehicles, says William Chueh, a Stanford scientist with expertise in battery technology.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/new-refillable-batteries-could-fuel-electric-car-revolution-ncna974556
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New refillable batteries could fuel an electric car revolution (Original Post) Eugene Feb 2019 OP
What about the old fluid? brush Feb 2019 #1
A "flow battery" is just a fuel cell -- one that uses a bulky liquid solvent instead of ... eppur_se_muova Feb 2019 #2

eppur_se_muova

(36,247 posts)
2. A "flow battery" is just a fuel cell -- one that uses a bulky liquid solvent instead of ...
Sun Feb 24, 2019, 11:10 PM
Feb 2019

... pure gases or liquids for fuel.

That bulky solvent will always make their "fuel" too heavy and bulky to compete with other technologies, including more conventional fuel cells.

I wouldn't invest a dime in this idea.

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