New battery technology will upend everything soon. By Jared Lynch in The Australian.
A small Finnish technology company, Donut Lab, claims to have perfected a new battery that has the potential to completely upend the electric vehicle industry, promising charging within minutes and practically infinite cycles. …
Donut Lab asserts that it has cracked the “holy grail” of power technology, developing a commercially ready, all-solid-state battery capable of charging to full in just minutes and engineered for a lifespan of up to 50 years.
It sounds too good to be true. But Brian Craighead — chief executive of Australian energy storage firm Energy Renaissance, whose defence arm is currently engaged with Donut Lab’s defence spin-off, ESOX Group — likened the technology’s development to what appeared to be the sudden onslaught of artificial intelligence.
“AI was coming for 30 years. Solid state is the same thing,” Mr Craighead said.
“It’s been two minutes away for years. So somebody is definitely going to crack it.” …
Mr Craighead estimates that if the cycle claims are correct, the cells could power a vehicle for 50 years and “drive millions of kilometres”. The same long-life economics extends to the residential market, where home batteries could also last five decades.
This longevity, combined with the new unit’s low cost, presents a seismic challenge to global battery makers and, according to Mr Craighead, will make internal combustion engines look ridiculous.
Donut Lab’s solid-state unit is claimed to be a lower-cost option than existing lithium-ion batteries, and the technology is projected to drive overall battery prices down to approximately one-tenth of current rates.
But is it true? Daniel Cooper at EnGadget isn’t so sure:
If real, such a device would change the face of the world, which is why plenty of people don’t think it is. And, as the company makes more effort to demonstrate it is telling the truth, the more holes people are finding to poke their fingers into. So, what the hell is going on with Donut Lab’s battery? After many weeks of research, I’m throwing my hands in the air, tired of the endless dog and pony show the company is putting on.
The electric dream is compelling, because we can do nearly anything with electricity. It’s so flexible, and we can control and apply it much much better than other forms of energy. But the Achilles heel of electric use has been poor storage. Chemical batteries are dangerous and heavy, with only a very modest energy density. Today’s EVs would be great cars, except for the batteries. The new battery technology will change that (though it won’t solve the energy density problem as much as we’d like, probably not enough for most aircraft).
If Donut’s battery technology is what they claim, expect a world in ten years of electric everything, powered by nuclear power via the grid (with fusion to come soon after, yes there are things in the works), with battery storage for portability. Only aircraft will be better powered by hydrocarbons. And yes, “renewable” sources of electricity (which aren’t really renewable — who every heard of solar panels or wind turbines that reproduce or last forever?) are weak and will have niche roles, but their numbers will dwindle due to the pollution and waste they create.