Ex-Navy officer inventor signs a multi-million deal to produce his electric car battery that will take drivers 1,500 miles on single charge!

Good luck to him. This is the level that would make range anxiety and, Petrol and Diesel obsolete - assuming they don't have to use fossil fuels to generate the electricity. :)
 
Why is it before each section in the artical it says "Advertisement"?
 
Lenny HB said:
Why is it before each section in the artical it says "Advertisement"?
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One would think that you would be interested and excited about what a fellow Brit has invented, and the possibilities of what huge changes it could have on the environment and motorhoming, so at a loss as to what your strange reply means.
 
Good luck to him, but can't help feeling that a man in a garage workshop that can invent something that multi billion earning car makers can't/won't requires a little bit more investigation rather than take at face value.

As for Dyson I am pretty sure bagless vaccum cleaners were around before his, but what he did was invent some fancy suction snake oil and made sure users saw all the crap swept up that used to be hidden in a bag, to make his machine look very efficient. So an interesting comparison.
 
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So it’s not actually a battery if you read the article so it avoids all the problems and pollution associated with Lithium batteries, it is a type of “fuel cell”, I will watch and wait.

Martin
 
Maybe works but a few things not taken in to account when comparing with other batteries, these new things wear out in 1500 miles and have to be replaced , whereas the standard ones now are recharged and go on for years.
Can't see the new one working out cheaper in the long run.
 
Well this is shaping up to be another popular 596 thread ?
I'm sure Grommet will be along with an opinion soon ?

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this is the sort of tech we need if/when we leave EU
only sell to them if we have free trade aggreement?
 
chaser said:
Maybe works but a few things not taken in to account when comparing with other batteries, these new things wear out in 1500 miles and have to be replaced , whereas the standard ones now are recharged and go on for years.
Can't see the new one working out cheaper in the long run.
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If you take your vehicle abroad, even after nearly 50 years of EU membership we can't get compatible gas cylinders or LPG fitting (without adaptors) so let's hope that is not the case here!
 
MR. FUSION said:
If you take your vehicle abroad, even after nearly 50 years of EU membership we can't get compatible gas cylinders, so let's hope that is not the case here!
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Presumably if it is right there would only be one type.
 
tboy said:
this is the sort of tech we need if/when we leave EU
only sell to them if we have free trade aggreement?
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Good luck with that. The way our MP s are behaving atm they will just hand it to them Imho

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I don't take this serious sorry. I wish him the best but it is not a suitable product for cars.

Tesla seriously investigated battery swap stations and ended up binning the idea as inpractical and unattractive to consumers.
There are a series of problems in the article...

He has claimed that no one would take him seriously in the industry, I am sorry but this is just not true. If his invention was any good Tesla would have been all over him like a rash. He would already be a multi millionaire.

Aluminium Air batteries have been around a long time and have been investigated by people serious about the subject. There are a number of downsides, even if he has solved the electrolyte issue and maintained the advantages of Aluminium Air batteries there are other issues with them that Li batteries do not have.

As for the Cobalt issue, Tesla is on the way to producing cells with Zero Cobalt in them. Recycling of Li batteries in only cost prohibitive due to the low number available for recycling. Tesla and other manufacturers are starting to see enough volume now to make recycling cost effective.

I suspect he is going big on the swap idea because his battery technology is not rechargable in a cost effective manner for the consumer and lifespan is not very good.

I could go on.

I would love to be excited by this story. But I see a "New Battery" techology story almost monthly and they very rarely if ever come to anything. I am jaded and sceptical now.
 
PS: I do see a place for Aluminium Air batteries but in Stationary installations such as grid scale storage.
 
Gellyneck said:
Their website https://www.metalectrique.com/
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That confirms the battery is not rechargable.

A Métalectrique power cell is actually quite simple. A piece of Aluminium is in contact with a special electrolyte. This electrolyte reacts with the metal on the negative end and on the positive end, air reacts with the electrolyte. When those two reactions are combined, aluminium is transformed into hydrated alumina and electrons are transferred from the second layer, through the conductor, ready to power a device. After use, the hydrated alumina can be reprocessed by smelting it, recovering the water and oxygen as it forms fresh aluminium. This cycle can be used over and over again.
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So this will require smelting which is a high energy process. Batteries will need to be sent to swap stations, and transported back. You can't charge at home. You have to pay £5,000 for each swap.

From his quote in the mail
In a Tesla, Jackson says, the battery costs about £30,000. An aluminium-air fuel cell that would power the same car for longer would cost just £5,000.
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The Tesla batteries do NOT cost £30,000 They are now less than $10,000 (to tesla) and do a lot more than 1,500 miles before needing replacing. Tesla have in development and testing a battery capable of 1,000,000 miles before it needs replacing and it will be cheaper.

I honestly do not see the attraction of this as all you gain is range per "charge" and lots of disadvantages.

I withdraw my previous comments regarding this being suitable for stationary installations. I am afraid I see no advantages at all to this technology unfortunately.
 
Would love it all to be true and viable, but my sceptic bone is twitching like a twitchy thing on twitchy pills

If it was that good it would not only be in that 'rag' but would be a main story in every news outlet
 
You would need two in your vehicle so when one was fully discharged it switched to the other one, as we do with lpg bottles.

I don't think it's being explained properly though, it can't cost £3000 every 1500 miles as he quotes. 0.08 per mile cost.
 
Why are British inventors often called Trevor? I have to admit it’s a good name for a boffin!

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