New Chinese "500 Wh/kg" battery

[guerney]

Chinese company claims it's built batteries so dense they can power electric airplanes

But Dr Rachid Yazami, one of the key minds behind lithium-ion batteries, thinks this could be hot air

Chinese company claims it has electric airplane battery tech

But Dr Rachid Yazami, one of the key minds behind lithium-ion batteries, thinks this could be hot air

www.theregister.com

 

[matthewslack]

It's 'only' a doubling in capacity, so not an absurd step size, cost is no object in aviation R&D sector, and CATL are big. I'll give them a cautious thumbs up for the numbers, whilst not forgetting that is still only 4% of the energy density of petrol...

 

[guerney]

Well I'm tetatively excited, but only somewhat so at the possible prospect of my 3.9kg ebike battery someday being replaced by a 1.38kg battery of the same capacity. Hopefully whatever new cells those battery packs contain, will make their way into the hands of ebike battery manufacturers and hobbyists, as other cell types originally intended for electric cars have. I very much hope 500 Wh/kg is true. I also hope such batteries don't burst into flames as easily, or burn as hot for as many hours unextinguishable without complete immersion in swimming pools.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I also hope such batteries don't burst into flames as easily, or burn as hot for as many hours unextinguishable without complete immersion in swimming pools.

Lithium batteries in (real) aeroplanes dont have a good history, ask Boeing.

 

[guerney]

Lithium batteries in (real) aeroplanes dont have a good history, ask Boeing.

There aren't many materials which can withstand the temperature of lithium-ion battery fires. Hafnium carbide could be plasma coated onto suitable battery cases, to possibly buy time:

"Experimental testing in 2018 confirmed the higher melting point yielding a result of 3,982 (±30°C) "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_carbide

PLASMAfusion® - META

PLASMAfusion™ - proprietary platform technology for high-speed vacuum coating, any solid material on any substrate.

metamaterial.com

 

[Simon Knight]

Lithium batteries in (real) aeroplanes dont have a good history, ask Boeing.

Yes, I believe that the lithium is capable of eating through aluminium even if it does not catch fire.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

It seems we are in a energy density race nowadays. You wonder what sort of technology will be available in 50 years from now. Maybe 5000Wh/Kg and personal air transport will be a reality. At what point will electric space vehicles be possible and fully rechargeable? 50000Wh/Kg Maybe there will be some way of getting close to the energy density of some nuclear materials like Uranium. Maybe you will buy an ebike in the future and never have to recharge it, the energy density in the battery will be good for 10s of thousands of miles or it collects heat and light energy from around itself to always top up the battery. Ebikes are relatively new so I guess what we have now is close to the Model T of motor cars and 50 years from now ebikes will be much more sophisticated.

 

[Woosh]

The main obstacle in making a tiny nuclear battery is harvesting and controlling fast neutrons. We have not discovered any suitable materials to make the reactors vessel.