This is Scott Amyx with today’s Climate Change Flash Briefing.
What’s the biggest complaint about owning an electric vehicle? The time that it takes to charge the batteries. There’s a novel way that might allow us to refill batteries at the pump.
Researchers at Purdue University and University of Glasgow in Scotland are working on liquid battery technology to enable refillable batteries. So what are these refillable batteries? Instead of charging the lithium ion cells in your batteries for hours, refillable batteries refill the batteries with freshly-charged liquid. Also referred to as flow battery, traditional gas stations can be retrofitted to dispense liquid electrolyte. The time needed to refill the car is the same as filling it up with gas.
Flow batteries release energy through chemical reactions between the ends of the battery and a substance known as electrolyte. In a lithium-ion battery, the electrolyte sits between the ends of the battery. When it’s depleted, it has to be recharged. In a flow battery, the electrolyte is pumped from a tank through the battery. When it’s depleted, it can simply be swapped out for a fresh batch. Researchers are working to increase the energy density of flow batteries by creating electrolyte with a high concentration of metal oxide. Researchers were able to create a liquid battery with three to five times the usual energy density by pumping the electrolyte through multiple battery cells at high speed. The old electrolyte can be recycled.
So when will we see liquid batteries in the market? According to researchers, they are still several years away from fully commercializing the technology.
Stay tuned next time to find out the implication of China refusing to accept plastic waste.
