By: Remy Chevalier

Remy Chevalier — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:13:23 +0000

There is no “beyond” Li-ion in battery chemistry. Lithium is to metals what Hydrogen is to gases, the primary element. Solid-State Li-ion chemistry reaches the limits of battery storage… this said, there are Li-ion chemistries on the bench, which could, in theory, take a passenger vehicle 3000 miles on one charge, at least that’s what some engineers at the latest battery industry symposium in Florida a few weeks ago claimed. If we could put into production solid state chemistries, versus the liquid gel chemistries still prevalent today as it is with a123, we’d be well on our way to a 100% EV economy. There might be something else on the horizon, there always is, but the simplicity and elegance of solid state Li-ion, very similar in design and execution to the Nanosolar way of mass producing PV cells, would suffice to detrone gasoline. Which is why I am skeptical of such claims, as they are usually thrown out there by the auto-industry as a Red Herring, to perpetuate the “for the future” syndrome… every year it’s another ten years off… which is how they ended up sinking billions into fuel cells, when everyone knew the membranes wouldn’t hold up. Creates jobs I guess… it doesn’t further the cause of an oil free economy. Comes a time when you have to settle, and start building… solid state Li-ion is that time. And yet, we’re still not doing it.

Comments on: The Daily Sprout

By: Remy Chevalier