The recharge efficiency, I believe, is between only 15% - 20%. But I don't see it as much of an issue, since most people would be using the aluminum battery only as a range extender, not in daily use. The Phinergy test car relies mostly on lithium cells for its primary mobility, employing the Al-air battery to recharge the lithium cells during extended trips.
When using the Phinergy cells, you need to stop and replace the electrolyte every 200-to-300 miles. The aluminum itself lasts longer. Interesting, I think the battery actually gains weight as you use it, since the atmospheric oxygen that combines with the aluminum stays within the cell until you pump it out and exchange it for fresh electrolyte at the above-mentioned 200-300 miles. Bill -----Original Message----- From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of EVDL Administrator via EV Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2015 10:40 AM To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List Subject: Re: [EVDL] Aluminum-Air-Water Primary Battery Backup for LiIon Pack Metal-air batteries seem to be pretty good for hearing aids. For EVs, I'm not so sure. The main problem is that they're primary batteries - not rechargeable. When they're discharged, you have to rebuild them. (Some people call them metal fuel cells.) Alcan and Unique Mobility worked with Aluminum-Air batteries in the late 1980s. They had a prototype system running in an Electrek EV (UM's intriguing limited production purpose-built EV) but eventually concluded it wasn't practical. In the 1990s, an Israeli company, Electric Fuel Corporation, developed Zn- Air batteries with rebuildable zinc "cassettes." They collaborated with the German Post on a trial program of EVs using these batteries. After several years, the Post concluded that it wasn't a viable system. Electric Fuel seems to have pretty much abandoned Zn-Air battery research and now concentrates on conventional battery chemistries for industrial, medical, and military uses. http://www.efbpower.com/oem/ This isn't to say it's hopeless, just that there seem to be some substantial hurdles for metal-air batteries in EVs. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
