Packing power: The new battery pack, designed for a prototype hybrid diesel vehicle, is made with a novel lithium-ion chemistry that could boost the battery’s performance while bringing down the cost.
Qinetiq
A British company is testing new chemistry that could boost the performance of batteries.
A British defense technology company, Qinetiq, is testing a new type of lithium-ion battery for hybrids and electric vehicles that could be substantially cheaper and more powerful than existing batteries.
The battery is based on lithium-ion iron-sulfide chemistry, which has a number of advantages over the chemistry of existing batteries, says Gary Mepsted, technical manager for Qinetiq's power sources group. The new battery would cost half as much as existing vehicle batteries and could last longer and recharge more quickly that other lithium batteries. Mepsted says that compared to standard lithium-ion batteries, the new battery has demonstrated about 1.6 times the energy density (which would extend a plug-in electric's range) and a 50 percent higher power density (which would let hybrids charge and discharge more rapidly).
Researchers have long viewed lithium-ion batteries as an attractive alternative to the expensive metal-based batteries now used in hybrids. But although standard lithium-ion batteries are relatively cheap and can store about twice as much energy as standard nickel metal hydride cells, developers have had to overcome a number of technological challenges to make them practical for vehicles.
Plug-in electric vehicles need batteries with higher energy densities to extend their range between charges, says Mepsted. And for hybrids, the power density of standard lithium-ion batteries is less than ideal for coping with the rapid charging and discharging that comes with the regenerative braking systems used in hybrids.
Another issue is safety, says Jeff Dahn, a professor of physics and chemistry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. In small devices like cell phones, this is less of an issue, he says. "But in large cells, it's hard to remain stable under abuse conditions." Such conditions include overcharging or collisions, which can cause the batteries to combust or even explode.
Qinetiq's approach involves making cathodes from lithium-ion iron sulfide instead of the more common lithium-cobalt oxide. Because this chemistry results in two lithium ions for every sulphide, it creates a massive increase in energy density.
A new chemistry could result in batteries that don't overheat—opening up new uses, including electric cars.
The 2011 Sonata Hybrid will be the first mass-market car to use the battery technology.
Let me see if I have this right, an advance in a green technology that has the potential to contribute significantly to the development of enviornmentally sound transport systems will inevitably lead to increased political tension and military posturing by the evil Western Nations. Therfore good news is really bad news and an advance of this type will leave us worse off than before. Give me a break ! I understand that there are political and social implications to technical and scientific advances, but this forum is about the science and technology of things. I'd be far more interested in reading commentary on the matter at hand. I'm sure that there are many websites devoted to social and political issues that would love to post your social commentary and conspiracy theories, so on this site you could feel free to stick with the science of the topic.
According to EV World the "King's Valley Hectorite Clay property in Nevada contains the lithium carbonate equivalent (5.3%) of 688,000 tonnes."
That's a lot of lithium and not the only lithium resource in the US (e.g., there are lithium brine projects around Silver Peak, etc).
Remember, too, that lithium is recyclable.
In short, I think the prospects of scarce lithium, at least in the near future, is over-stated.
lithium-ion supplies are short
I'm afraid research involving lithium-ion batteries is a waste of time. Not that I don't believe lithium-ion battery technologies might not create a great transitional battery, rather the time and money invested might be more productive experimenting with materials not already pricey and in short supply. To supply the next generation of electric automobiles with lithium-ion batteries we're talking about more than all known quantities that exist on the planet. A few new discoveries doesn't change that.
While Li-ion batteries are expensive, the Li carbonate used in battery manufacture is cheap. According to ANL report ANL/ESD-42 (published in 2000) the Li cost would be ~$100/EV ($5/HEV) in a $25K battery pack, assuming Li2CO3 prices of ~$2/lb. [In 2009 cost was ~$3/lb (~$150/EV).] The cobalt and electrolyte salts is what makes current laptop batteries expensive, so research in alternative chemistries could lead to dramatically cheaper and/or longer lasting batteries. This is needed to make mainstream EVs practical.
The cheap sources from South American brine shut down the US-based mining, so more expensive sources aren't being considered when calculating reserves. Even if Li cost increased by 10X, it wouldn't significantly affect the price of current Li batteries.
It will be a long time before the cheap reserves of Li would be used up by EVs, so there will be plenty of time to develop alternatives. Meanwhile, it's important to bring down the cost of EV battery packs.
Isn't it the case that cheap lithium from China caused other lithium extraction/refinement operations to shut down?
The US was producing lithium in North Carolina at one time. And there is apparently easy to refine lithium coming out of geothermal waste water at the Salton Sea.
Guest (-barrieglassford)
Will it be possible for vehicle manufacturers to agree on a battery size and shape format so that ,say, a Honda battery could be used in a Dodge etc. This would make life in the fiture much easier if we could drive into what used to be a filling station and have a charged up battery fitted, possibly automatically, and the energy difference billed to our credit cards.
Future road transport will not be as we know it, but merely a chore of getting from one place to another; therefore let's plan ahead now and make things as interchangeable as possible.
Here's a thought while the debate rages on OLEC.
I am no chemist, but on reading the article, it occurs to me that the sulfide spent liquor from the Li-Iron sulfide battery could be gainfully recycled to sequester CO2 either from utility stacks or from other CO2 sources such as natural gas separation plants. Perhaps the reaction would precipitate iron-carbonate and sulfur, (even while the EV displaces gasoline from (sour) crudes)?
Bolivia could be shooting itself in its foot if it wants to get any economic benifits from its lithium.
Apparantly we have a good supply of Lithium available in California!
From New Scientist: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427385.700-battery-lithium-could-come-from-geothermal-waste-water.html
A GEOTHERMAL power plant in California will soon be producing more than just electricity. The valuable metal lithium could be extracted from its hot waste water.
The technique, developed by California-based Simbol Mining, could bolster lithium supplies at a time when they are being squeezed by our growing reliance on high-density batteries. Global lithium consumption is projected to increase threefold by 2020 as electric cars and energy storage in the electrical grid become more common.
Lithium is usually extracted from soil, in a process that consumes a lot of water, or from brine dried in large salt ponds. The geothermal waters at the Salton Sea, about 250 kilometres inland and on top of the active San Andreas fault, are just as lithium-rich as the most productive brine lakes in Bolivia and Chile. Simbol says Salton's waters can be exploited with a much smaller environmental footprint.
lithium-ion iron by british tech
As we talked over cheaper battery for hybrid Cars on http://www.technologyreview.in/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=batteries&id=20105 now we talking about the British defense technology company, Qinetiq, who recently tested new type of lithium-ion battery for hybrids and electric Cheap Cars. But actually there is 2 companies claim to have created a battery pack, using QinetiQ's new iron sulphide-based cell chemistry and Ricardo's latest battery management system, that is 20 % lighter and significantly less expensive to make than current commercial production lithium-ion batteries.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
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hdginzo
14 Comments
Political lithium?
The ‘Salar de Uyuni’ in the Bolivian Altiplano is the world's largest source of lithium (see the latest issue of TR) Bolivia seems embarked on the political use of its natural resources, a policy which is likely to last some decades from now. It is not far-fetched to think that the Bolivian government could either impose political strings or directly forbid the sale of lithium to companies in capitalist countries, which are considered the culprits of every current (and also future) environmental harm done to Mother Earth. It is therefore likely that lithium becomes very expensive to get, because trade restrictions usually begets smuggling and other sort expensively risky activities. I'd suggest battery manufacturers in capitalist countries devise a plan B for making their ware with alternative metals mined from potentially more reliable sources, just in case the Bolivian cost becomes too high. (I'm not nuts; I'm a Latin American near its seventies)
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mkogrady
423 Comments
Re: Political lithium?
How about OLEC - a new Cartel
Organization of Lithium Exporting Countries
Mark my words - The US will start building up Military forces in these regions to safeguard Lithium sources. It's just a matter of time.
Reply
lasertekk
146 Comments
Re: Political lithium?
I don't gamble much, but as for your statement, I would give 5:1 odds someone employed by an industry (pick-one) financed think-tank is already drawing out a future scenario for just that. And that paper will eventually make it down to a (wrong) senate board.
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hshipman
2 Comments
Not really
Lithium isn't as scarce as we're being led to believe. In fact, the US has quite a bit of lithium and has several active lithium mining resources within its own borders. Perhaps the military industrial complex, which Eisenhower warned us about, is just fishing for another excuse to expand its missions. Even though we have military bases in 130 of the world's total of 180 countries, we're still wanting more...
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