A Prize for a Better Battery ?

June 25, 2008 – Vol.13 No.14

A PRIZE FOR A BETTER BATTERY?

Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain – if elected – wants to offer a $300 million prize for the invention of a better vehicle battery for plug-in hybrid or all-electric cars. He also wants a $5000 tax credit to those who buy a zero carbon-emission vehicle, presumably with one of those same batteries under the hood.

Not a bad idea. The details are sketchy of course, but that’s OK. He’s not living in the White House. Details on campaign promises don’t often come out until the promises turn into programs. Presidential candidates don’t launch initiatives, only say they will.

Three hundred million couldn’t build a battery company, but it would be a heckava prize for anyone tinkering in their basement shop with new ideas. (If the battery worked, plenty of investment would come later.)

If McCain’s idea (which is part of his overall energy package dubbed the Lexington Project)ever gets to the program stage – where details are needed – it should take on a slightly broader definition than just better batteries. Going beyond what we ordinarily think of vehicular batteries (on-board electrochemically rechargeable energy storage devices) it should include swappable batteries and mechanically rechargeable batteries.

Swappable batteries for vehicles – those that can easily be removed and replaced to reenergize or refuel the vehicle – are nothing new. Easily changeable batteries are common in light electric vehicle designs, such as bikes and scooters and most recently the Project Better Place electric vehicle initiative planned for Israel includes a battery swap system.

Mechanically rechargeable batteries are nothing new either, but first a little background.

Generally, very basically speaking, electrochemical batteries have three main components, an anode, a cathode and the electrolyte. The anode and the cathode are two different metals immersed in the electrolyte. In the presence of each other and connected electrically by the electrolyte, one of the metals will oxidize (corrode, decay, call it what you like) the other will remain untouched, good as new. As one metal decays, or is sacrificed, an electric current is available for use. Properly designed, the sacrificed metal anode can be removed and replaced to recharge the battery. The motion to R and R the sacrificial anode is mechanical thus making the battery mechanically rechargeable. If the sacrificed anode is considered “fuel” then the device could also be called a metal fuel cell.

Back to the “nothing new” part.

As one of many examples in the past of mechanically rechargeable batteries in vehicles this editor had the pleasure some years ago to ride around Washington’s Capitol Hill in a city bus fueled by zinc pellets. The company which developed the bus, known at the time as Electric Fuel (now a division of Arotech), also developed a complete remove and replace recycling system for the zinc “fuel cell” batteries. The bus was reenergized by installing new batteries very quickly and the spent batteries were rebuilt and used again with the zinc pellets deoxidized.

The inclusion of swappable batteries as well as mechanically rechargeable batteries would add a significant new dimension to the prize that Senator McCain suggests. More than the batteries themselves, the design would have to include a battery remove and replacement system along with a recycling process and redesign of cars and trucks to accept the batteries. The end product might be a better option than rechargeable batteries.

Removal and replacement could take about the same time as filling a gas tank - no long waits for a recharge from the power grid. Recycling batteries would create new business opportunities too, which is always a good thing in a slow economy. The corner filling station could become the corner battery swap station.

If Senator Obama finds his way to the White House, he should consider taking the better battery prize idea from McCain’s play book. With permission of course.

Links:

John McCain for President
http://www.johnmccain.com

Project Better Place
http://www.projectbetterplace.com

Electric Fuel
http://www.electric-fuel.com