Nytt batteri

En amerikansk firma EEStor påstår sig ha utvecklat ett nytt fantastiskt batteri. Vid < 3 kg/kWh ger detta möjlighet att faktiskt skapa elbilar med samma eller bättre räckvidd än dagens bensinbilar. Deras batterimodul är på 52 kWh och väger 130 kg totalt. 52 kWh motsvarar kanske 30 mils körning i en mellanstor bil (15 kW i 90 km/h).


Utredning om tillgänglighet av grundämnen:

I did the usual math to see if the earth can sustain a large scale deployment of this type of batteries. For Lithium this is not the case, as I have posted before, but for BaTiO3 (Barium titanate) it seems better:

If the EEStor battery contains 50% Barium Titanate by weight (This is a pure guess) each battery of 130 kg / 52 kWh requires 13 kg of titanium and 40 kg of Barium. I assume that oxygen is plentily available.

Current mining is about 4 million tons per year of each element (a conicident that it is about equal), so Barium is the shorter in supply, but still can support 100 million batteries per year. This is on par with how many vehicles the earth produces per year.

The reserves for Barium are not very large though, with current production rates the reserves last only 25 years. But as Barium is currently used for very low-value needs the reserves can probably be increased by a large factor if less easily available supplies are used. Total availability of Baryte is 2 billion tons accordingh to USGS, which equals about 1 billion ton of Barium, or 250 years worth of current production.

So the future looks bright for EESTor. Not only have they designed a very good battery (if it works), they have done it using elements that the earth can supply us width for a decent period of time (> 100 years).