Battery Life Multiplied by 11 Comes to Reality

13th November, 2009 by adina
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Fluidic Energy is meant to transform the way of generating, delivering and consuming electricity by imagining an innovative energy storage approach. Partly government-baked, Fluidic Energy is a project that could potentially extend the life of batteries used in notebooks and other devices beyond current lithium-ion cells. The new technology is known as Metal-Air ionic Liquid (MAIL) and should improve energy storage beyond the limits of zinc-air batteries, relatively efficient, by using ionic liquid salts to conduct electricity. This combination provides more stability and avoids drying by accident or by decay. Metals denser than zinc can be used and therefore much larger charge could be stored in a given volume.

Recent researches estimate battery efficiency could boost to between 900 and 1,600 watt-hours in a one-kilogram mass pack, i.e. eleven times the lithium-ion battery energy. Notebook batteries, even significantly smaller, would however last for a much longer time than at present. If improvements scaled linearly, a 1.25-pound battery of a 17-inch MacBook Pro would hold 511 watt-hours or five times the current battery.

Electric cars are a particular domain of interest for the government. The driving range of all-electric cars could be extended to 400, even 500 miles, which could make them successfully compete with some of the gasoline vehicles. At present, an electric car such as the Tesla Roadster has a 244-mile autonomy using lithium-ion cells.

Finding an ionic liquid with the intended properties and inexpensive enough to be competitive with traditional technologies is still a major challenge. MAIL packs could cost less than current lithium-ion and have similar performances, except the increased charge capacity.

How soon MAIL could reach the market is not clear now, but this project is intended to reach the shipping phase.


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