Dr. Grigorii Soloveichik, a chemist at GE Global Research, combines the necessary ingredients for a water-based chemical reaction that generates electricity inside GE’s flow battery.
Imagine a brave new world where an affordable family EV sedan could cover the distance between New York City and Washington, D.C., on a single battery charge. It remains a fantasy, but perhaps not for too long. Scientists at GE Global Research and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are developing a new kind of water-based “flow” battery for electric vehicles that could achieve this driving range and go beyond it.
Grigorii Soloveichik, who leads the project at GRC and serves as director of the GE-led and Department of Energy-funded Energy Frontier Research Center, says that the batteries could be 75 percent cheaper than car batteries available on the market today and multiply current EV driving range. “The DOE wants a battery that can power a car for 240 miles,” he says. “We think we can exceed that goal.”
GE engineers say that unlike lithium-ion and other battery systems, the new technology will use water-based solutions of inorganic chemicals capable supplying high energy density by ferrying more than one electron at a time. They call the system a “flow” battery because the discharge and recharge occurs in electrochemical cells that stand apart from the energy storing tanks, which makes them safer. “We envision a flow battery with applications for both transportation and large-scale energy storage,” said Soloveichik. “Put simply, for EV’s, this represents a game-changing technology.”
The research is part of the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E RANGE program that seeks to develop game-changing electrochemical energy storage technologies. Engineers from the GRC and Berkeley Lab team says that they plant to develop a working prototype and “demonstrate feasibility” of the concept over the next year.
For comparison, the 2013 Nissan Leaf has an EPA-rated range of 75 miles. Tesla Motors' high-end 2013 Model S can reach 265 miles on a single charge. They both use lithium-ion batteries.
GE has a long history of EV research. A century ago, the company developed the first EV chargers. Most recently, GE engineers developed EV charging stations like the WattStation and sodium-based Durathon batteries, which are now part of the company's ecomagination portfolio.
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Would replacing the catholyte and anolyte be a way to quickly recharge a flow battery?
ReplyDeleteThis is one case where the word, "awesome" really does apply!
ReplyDeleteYes, that could be an option.
ReplyDeleteSo can there potentially be anolyte and catholyte stations (like gas stations), that pumps out the tanks and replaces it with fresh fluids?
ReplyDeleteThen the station either recharges the solutions continuously, recharges it at night when the price of electricity is cheaper, or ship them out to a 3rd party for recharging?
Can this be interchanged in a minute or less & be charged independently of the vehicle in some sort of industrial charging station?
ReplyDeletehello again, i wrote about the vehicle having a secondary system composed of catholyte + anolyte that could be switched on + off as needed. at the time i was under the assumption the vehicle had on board its own charging system alternator, generator etc.if a charge circuit is not on board my idea is invalid. thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI'm unclear on what exactly this project is doing? Is the goal to discover some "inorganic chemical" capable of this performance, or have they already discovered it, and are now building a working prototype? Because energy density and cost have plagued EVs for decades, so to just come out of the blue and announce development of a 75% cheaper, 240 mile auto battery is pushing the limits of credibility.
ReplyDelete