Disruptive technology disturbs normal by being innovative, or groundbreaking. Science Daily reports a breakthrough on October 12, 2022 that ‘paves a way for mass-adoption of affordable electric cars’. It’s as simple, but mind-bending as adding a disruptive fourth battery component. But dare we wonder will our world of batteries ever be the same again?
The Mother of a Disruptive Fourth Battery Component
Necessity, they say is the mother of invention. Last August, California’s Air Resources Board approved a plan to outlaw new gasoline cars by 2035. This is a move in the right direction, but is it practical Penn State University researchers wondered.
How would we get past the problem of electric cars taking unacceptably too long to recharge. And being too expensive for most of us to afford anyway. Some seem to take all day long to achieve their full capacity too. What would this situation do to our economy?
Chao-Yang Wang is William E. Diefenderfer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University, and lead author on the study. He realized there were simply not enough raw materials locally to meet the challenge. Therefore we needed smaller, more efficient electric car batteries, he reasoned.
A Disruptive Solution to a Disrupting Problem
Batteries operate most efficiently when they are hot, but not too hot. However to date, engineers have met this challenge with bulky external heating and cooling systems to regulate battery temperature.
But Wang and his team decided to add a disruptive fourth battery component to the mix of anode, electrolyte, and cathode instead. Their solution is to regulate a battery’s temperature internally, by ‘adding a nickel foil to the structure’. This self-regulates the battery’s temperature, and reactivity.
This would therefore allow 10-minute fast-charging on almost any EV battery, Wang explains. “True fast-charging batteries would have immediate impact,” the researchers reason. “Fast charging is imperative for EVs to go mainstream. But there are not enough raw minerals available.” So we need this before we can speak of replacing every internal combustion engine, with a 150 kWh electric motor.
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