Seems like we see this headline every two years.
I guess Obama wants to pour more money into this operation before it goes bankrupt.
Depending on how it is charged it may actually produce more air pollution than an internal combustion engine.
Non rechargeable so basically you give up the benefits of a rechargeable battery and the convenience of tens of thousands of gas stations.
I’m sure there are some really good uses for this technology but cars may not be one of them.
Looking into my crystal ball for 1000 mile ev batteries and in two years I see ... nothing
Seems like a fancy way to burn bauxite for fuel. Sounds expensive.
This battery would have to be recycled for less than $115 in order to be cheaper than $4.00/gallon gasoline, as brand new, 2014 model, 35 mpg crapboxes can be purchased all day for $15K at EVERY car dealership.
Even my 420 HP mustang daily driver gets 23mpg, so my fuel cost for 1000 miles with $4 gallon gas is less than $175.
The math is tough to justify an electric car. Maybe Common Core math will teach kids that in “ends justifies the means math” that the TRUE COST of 1000 miles in a 35 mpg gas car is not $115, but really $1,500... so this battery is a bargain!
I also like how they refer to it as “zero emissions”. Yeah right.
If people think their electric cars are “zero emission” they are NIMBY idiots.
I think the real breakthrough will be a graphene based capacitor.
Okey-dokey. I can scrounge a whole mess of cheap aluminum pots and trays, mashed up soda and beer cans, and such. Just need to know what that magic elixir is and I’m motoring!
Solar panels and electric cars suit the Left's purposes now, but if it gets to a point where costs come down and those are readily available, then the statists will do a 180. The idea of people living off the grid and traveling wherever they want to go go freely and inexpensively is counter to their ultimate goal of central control of everyone's lives.
So, this means you will have to replace the 1000 mile battery once a month (at least).
Most people drive more than a thousand miles a month. What is the price of this non-rechargeable battery?
So what is the total cost, including subsidies and tax breaks? What is the total amount of pollution, considering all phases of production, and ultimate disposal of the units?
Fancy batteries run at an optimal temp, vary that either way and everything skews downward.
Zero-emissions is a fantasy, maybe at the operating end of the first drive, but not in production, maintenance or repair/replacement. Just like everything else....
There is no free ride, (or free lunches).
BFL
Think of a diesel-electric locomotive: it burns diesel fuel to generate electricity (ac converted to dc) which drives the engine.
In the system described in the article, aluminum is oxidized by air (in effect “burned”) to generate energy electrochemically, which drives the engine.
One critical difference: one can obtain diesel by refining petroleum you find in holes in the ground (essentially), but you’re not going to find any naturally-occurring aluminum metal.
The “fuel” for the electrochemical system has to be refined using, yes, electricity - and due to losses associated with the laws of thermodynamics, you have to put more electricity into the system than that which you ultimately get out.
So essentially this system allows available primary forms of energy (coal, nukes, etc) to be used in a transportation system. Whether it’s economically viable is another question.
How much government subsidy will be needed to make it competitive with a tank of gasoline and a good IC engine?