Lithium Sulphide Li-S batteries coming your way..

[5teep]

A team at the Drexel made a discovery by chance that means a Lithium Sulphide battery is workable. Previously they could get it to work once but not recharge.
They've had one on test charge/discharge for 4000 cycles and it hasn't failed or even degraded.
The reasons this is good news is that 1) Sulphur is safe, environmentally friendly, plentiful and cheap and 2) this battery has 3 times the density of Li-Ion batteries.

Drexel team develops stable Li-S battery with carbonate electrolyte

Researchers at Drexel University have stabilized a rare monoclinic γ-sulfur phase within carbon nanofibers that enables successful operation of Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries in carbonate electrolyte for 4000 cycles. AN open-access paper on their work is published in Communications Chemistry...

www.greencarcongress.com

 

[Lguk]

So we can reduce the size/weight of the battery packs a bit whilst maintaining the preferable range of 300 miles and not get degradation within the first 8 years of life? - Sounds like my next EV is going to be quite the step forward.

 

[Gomev]

A team at the Drexel made a discovery by chance that means a Lithium Sulphide battery is workable. Previously they could get it to work once but not recharge.
They've had one on test charge/discharge for 4000 cycles and it hasn't failed or even degraded.
The reasons this is good news is that 1) Sulphur is safe, environmentally friendly, plentiful and cheap and 2) this battery has 3 times the density of Li-Ion batteries.

Drexel team develops stable Li-S battery with carbonate electrolyte

Researchers at Drexel University have stabilized a rare monoclinic γ-sulfur phase within carbon nanofibers that enables successful operation of Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries in carbonate electrolyte for 4000 cycles. AN open-access paper on their work is published in Communications Chemistry...

www.greencarcongress.com

Sounds great apart from the smell

 

[Colin E]

Australian company Li-S Energy is undertaking R&D and commercialisation on a new generation of high-performance batteries using lithium-sulphur chemistry instead of lithium-ion.

Li-S Energy’s research and development has shown that integrating BNNTs into lithium-sulphur battery components and architecture is an effective method of stabilising the battery components during charge and discharge, creating a lithium- sulphur battery cell with a cycle life approaching that of everyday consumer grade lithium-ion batteries. This offers the potential for a lithium-sulphur battery to finally be commercialised and mass produced.

 

[Fluffykins]

"cycle life approaching that of everyday consumer grade lithium-ion batteries"

IOW, not quite as long lived.

 

[Vipar]

My wife is already used to a sulphur smell

 

[5teep]

"cycle life approaching that of everyday consumer grade lithium-ion batteries"

IOW, not quite as long lived.

Getting there though, if the one on test in the original link is anything to go by you're looking at 10 year life easily now, that will get better as they fine tune the process.

 

[Tim Falkiner]

If batteries are produced that give a range of 1000 km that will not be good news for fast charging networks as it will increase destination charging. Rolling out fast charging networks may be a risky business.