Al-Ion Batteries

[Mark]

Developer Of Aluminum-Ion Battery Claims It Charges 60 Times Faster Than Lithium-Ion, Offering EV Range Breakthrough:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltay ... thium-ion/

GMG plans to bring graphene aluminum-ion coin cells to market late this year or early next year, with automotive pouch cells planned to roll out in early 2024.

[BritDownUnder]

I have often wondered why aluminium ions could not be used in electrochemical cell as they can lose three electrons and the Al3+ ion would be presumably quite small and could migrate similar to lithium ions. Aluminium is also rather more abundant than lithium in the earths crust.

[adam2]

Disposable or single use aluminium batteries already exist.
They are fitted to life rafts and are activated fully automatically by contact with sea water, they power an internal light, and an external strobe light.
They are light in weight and not restricted for air transport, unlike lithium batteries. They have an indefinite shelf life if sealed. Salt water is required, they dont work in fresh water.

Rechargeable aluminium batteries are a new development. Certainly worth exploring, but I doubt that they will displace lithium batteries. I am even more doubtful about "charging 60 times faster" That suggests charging in about one minute. Could the internal connections between battery cells handle the currents needed ?
What sort of connector is proposed for charging ? Water cooled cables and connectors are possible but add considerable cost and complexity.
Even a 1Mw supply would take 6 or 7 minutes to charge the larger EVs.
And what about the losses ? 100 kw of heat is a challenge to get rid of, especially in hot weather. A water cooled battery with the charge point also supplying chilled water might be needed.

There is at present a bad outbreak of "battery mania" with almost weekly claims about new and improved types.

[Catweazle]

Good point about the heat generated Adam, I was only wondering about the size of the supply needed.

[adam2]

Indeed, consider a 2 Mw charger that is 97% efficient, that represents a loss of about 60 kw, almost certainly needs water cooling.
Now consider a 2 Mw input into a battery with a 95% charge efficiency, that is 100 KW of heat to remove from the battery, also almost certainly needs water cooling, with chilled water supplied by the charge point.

All this is doable but adds costs and complexity. Don't forget the running cost of the water chiller, or the space taken up by plumbing, pipe, tanks, cooling towers and the like.
Overnight charging at 7 kw (single phase 32 amp supply) looks attractive.
Charging during the day at 21 kw (three phase 32 amp supply) in the car park also looks attractive.

[PS_RalphW]

Water cooled 350KW 800V charging cables are already installed at 3 large recharging stations in England. They will be the new standard at motorway services now that the old Ecotricity network is being bankrolled with new money by GridServe. Of course, they will be old technology even before the rollout is complete.

[adam2]

Water cooled 350KW 800V charging cables are already installed at 3 large recharging stations in England. They will be the new standard at motorway services now that the old Ecotricity network is being bankrolled with new money by GridServe. Of course, they will be old technology even before the rollout is complete.

That is impressive, and may be the sensible limit for charging cars. Faster charging would add a lot of cost and complication for saving a very few minutes.

Much higher capacity chargers might be needed if battery HGVs ever become popular. A battery capacity of 1Mwh has been suggested for a large HGV, fast charging that would need a 10 Mw supply.