[gor]

Originally Posted by Tedktis

Electric cars could fill up at the MetILs pump. Flow batteries can be rapidly “recharged” by replacing the electrolyte liquid.

http://www.innovationtoronto.com/2012/03/electric-cars-could-fill-up-at-the-metils-pump/

1.5 kwh/kg - its about 15 times higher than existing lithium

range of evs such as nissan leaf would be 1500 miles, not one hour on highway and 12 hours for recharge from standard outlet to get back as it is right now


good work, if they'll make it happen (well, lithium batteries been also non-existing until recently)

[Ryan800]

I don't think pumping fluids makes sense for passenger cars. While people wouldn't accept 30 minute fillups at the gas station, that's not a fair comparison because the only time you need to visit a "station" with an electric car is on long trips. I can't imagine electric cars becoming widely accepted until they can handle an unexpected 50 or 100 miles of errands so what you're really doing is eliminating about 25 5-10 minute stops per year and adding about five 30 minute stops depending on your driving habits. Plus, for a bit extra you can get batteries that charge most of the way in 5-10 minutes anyway.

We will get to this point with incremental improvements of existing technology. Tesla offers such a car for about $70k and I expect my current build to meet the above criteria for $40k plus labor. "Pumpable" batteries and their infrastructure are much further off. I think once pumping fuel becomes unnecessary there will be no desire to bring it back.

Why even discuss what would happen if a battery with 10x the energy density of lithium becomes available soon at reasonable cost? The answer is easy: it will be incorporated into every mobile energy storage application within a year or two, including ground, sea, and air transport. Mayyyyybe ocean shipping would hold out for a while. I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen for long time, but I hope to be proven wrong.