Alcoa Canada and Israel's Phinergy Co. push aluminum air batteries

Can an electric car ride 19 hours in a row and drive from Toronto to Halifax, which is 1800 kilometers away, without parking at all? © This is theoretically feasible. Recently, Alcoa Canada and Phinergy in Israel demonstrated to the public such a battery technology with super battery life.

Weigh 100 kg with only monthly water

The biggest obstacle to the adoption of lithium-ion battery-powered electric vehicles is the limited mileage. Currently, most of the battery life is between 135 kilometers (Nissan Leaf) and 480 kilometers (Tesla S-type) unless a large number of fast charging stations are installed. Otherwise, it is not suitable to drive an electric car for long-distance travel. Alcoa Canada and Israeli company Phinergy's new 100-kilogram aluminum air battery stores enough power to run 3,000 kilometers. In contrast, the Tesla Model S has more than 500 kilograms of battery, while driving mileage is less than 500 kilometers.

Aluminum air battery can make the car cruising 3000 kilometers

The new battery is not charged from the general grid, but instead is charged in the melt shop of Alcoa's hydropower station. The fully charged battery is actually a heavy panel made mostly of aluminum. Aluminum plates use the oxygen absorbed from the air and the water that the user adds to the car to create a chemical that turns aluminum into aluminum oxide, which releases energy and continues to power the car. The oxidation reaction of aluminum occurs naturally when aluminum is exposed to air. The surface alumina prevents the deep aluminum from reacting. The new technology used in the new battery includes electrolytes that can dissolve the surface oxide layer and allow the reaction to continue.

According to the introduction of Alcoa Canada, vehicles using such batteries still need to keep lithium electronic batteries. Aluminum batteries start only after the lithium battery has been exhausted, so it can be used for a long period of time, during which only monthly water needs to be filled. Usually after a year or so reaches the limit of use, it is sufficient to replace the fully charged aluminum battery at the service station.

Using this prototype vehicle with an additional battery, it was tested on the Formula One race track in Montreal last week. Phinergy also introduced this new invention at the International Aluminum Congress in Canada on June 4. At present, the inventors are negotiating with the Quebec Province on the production agreement, so as to make this zero-emission vehicle can be put into trial operation as soon as possible.