This should help to reduce the cost of EV batteries.
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Interesting article. The key statement, in my opinion, is this one;
If scientists can extract even a conservative amount of lithium from fracking wastewater
This leads me to believe that this is not going to happen anytime soon. If it takes research to figure out how to extract the lithium, that is only the first step. The second would involve engineers from a mining company working out how to scale the extraction process.
Don’t be silly. Lithium-based batteries are not suitable for making electric vehicles, due to safety and recycling concerns. And just because the President and his administration say that lithium battery powered EVs are the way of the future doesn’t magically make it so. In order for EVs to catch on, we will need a major paradigm shift (to smaller, lightweight vehicles) and a new battery technology which relies upon individual, replaceable batteries as opposed to a singular self-contained battery pack. People don’t want to buy disposable vehicles with a non-recyclable, non-repairable battery pack which costs too much to replace once the warranty ends.
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I work on lithium extraction projects from underground brines, the technology is being commercialized as we speak.
Example:
One problem I see with the Marcellus project is that the lithium plant needs a constant reliable source of large volumes of brine, something that might be difficult for that source.
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Exxon-Mobil just announced a huge investment in Southeast Arkansas to harvest lithium from old brine water, from old oil wells. They’ve been studying it for a long time and decided it was profitable.
The change is coming. In fact, it’s already begun.
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The battery packs already do rely on replaceable cells. The manufacturer’s just won’t replace those individual cells. There needs to be a battery rebuilding infrastructure. There are YouTubers as well as some small shops doing this already but not large scale suppliers. But it is coming. See below
This is the same as dealers changing engines rather than taking them apart and rebuilding them. Too much labor cost, too much risk of screw-ups (and fire from LiIon batteries) that it is a total battery pack swap and not a repair
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+1
Exxon-Mobil (and some of the other petroleum companies) have been investing in alternative energy sources for at least a few years.
They’re near the projects I’m working on. The press gets it wrong, the presence of lithium was identified in analysis of brine produced by oil wells, but the actual production of the lithium-containing brine for processing will depend on all-new brine-only wells.
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Replacing a simple cooling tube fitting (as shown in the interesting vdo) seems pretty easy. Just basic plumbing. I wonder what Tesla’s thinking is for requiring the entire battery pack be replaced when that fitting gets damaged? I’m guessing they are worried the battery pack may have been damaged beyond repair by the owner continuing to operate the vehicle without the cooling system working , and the liability concerns involved with a simple fix isn’t worth taking the corporate risk. You’d think the car’s computer could simply monitor the temperature of both the battery and the coolant and would know when a cooling system failure happens and immediately shut the engine off.
I am sure it does that already… but now you have a ticked off customer needing a tow.
I am also looking forward to alternate materials for making batteries, ones that are more abundant and safer than lithium. But swap-out batteries? I would not buy into that ecosphere. Battery life is so dependent on how carefully you use and charge them (think about various people’s cell phone battery lives…)
People doing lots of jackrabbit starts (and stops, heavy brake use wastes the energy that could be put back into the battery!) Long fast drives in warm locations, lots of “super fast” recharging? All those shorten battery life.
I would not want to “swap-out” your problems for mine, just because I need a charge.
This might work for long haul trucks, or with maybe computer software that minimizes the bad behaviors above? Reality is the big majority of drives are under 100 miles a day, many of us could get by with a regular 120 volt household recharge overnight, making it pretty simple even for apartment dwellers/owners.
Even majority of semi-trailers only drive 250 miles a day for fleet deliveries, regionally.
Lots of myths out there about EVs, takes some searching for the truth. Beware oil company propaganda.
And: YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY, as we know.
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+1
I read that most people drive less than 50 miles per day. Of course, that omits most of those who commute to work via car, and I have no idea whether that 50 mile figure is really accurate.
Speaking for myself, my plug-in hybrid has a 52-53 mile battery range, and most days I drive only 35-40 miles. On weekends, when I tend to have longer drives, I frequently use HV mode, with the gas engine running intermittently. I filled-up yesterday (6.7 gallons), and I was able to drive 965 miles on that amount of gas. If you calculate the gas mileage, I think that it’s fairly impressive.
I do, but I drive less than 5000 miles per year. On a 120 VAC line you have to charge when the battery is down to about 85%. If it’s really cold, you might only gain 10% overnight. I have a garage and I can gain 15% year round.
I wasn’t aware of that difference between EVs and PHEVs. So far, I have only recharged (overnight) from the 120 V outlet in my garage. While I don’t recharge if I have depleted the battery to only a slight extent, I could do so.
When my recharge has ended, I wind-up with the full capacity, which equals 52-53 miles in warmer weather, and 47 miles during the colder months.
My range is about 267 miles. 20% is about 54 miles, so there isn’t much difference in charging time between your Lexus and my Tesla.
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Real hope for EV’s is solid state battery technology Toyota is working on. It claims to get 750 miles on a charge. The main bottleneck is charging infrastructure.