Aluminum-Air Battery With 1000-Mile EV Range, Too Good To Be True?

Let's just go with the $200 fee for replacing your battery plates. And we'll use the high estimate of 1000 miles. (EPA would probably be 800 miles) This is $0.20/mile for extended battery costs...a bit high considering in my PIP I'm about $0.02/mile for electricity and $0.07/mile for gas. (based on ~12c/kwh and $4/gal).

If you drive 50% EV then you are at 11 cents/mile. If you are at 80% EV then you are at 5.6c/mile. This is about the same as a 20 mpg car in gas costs...but the 20 mpg car is going to be big enough for a family of 4 or 6 with luggage. So if you are going on a long trip use your other vehicle or rent an SUV.

But at least at those prices it is within striking range of being cost effective based on what the car configuration could be without an ICE.

Mike

 

Oh, I was conservative, and thought 1000 miles in the video was about 500 miles epa in my calculations. Aluminum prices are around 90 cents a pound wholesale now, so I also added a lot for the markups. I would stay conservative though.

Yep, the model works only if you have a high utilization factor. I don't think that rent a car thing is very practical though. You have to add the price of car rental to your price per gallon. Say you get 80%+ utilization in a car that makes you happy. $0.056 per mile is less than that cost in a prius liftback. The point of this idea is to free up that space that the ice and pollution control took, save some costs on purchase price, in return for recycling the primary cell extended range battery. If you are at 80% now, a 60 mile range would put at a much higher utilization. Remember we aren't getting rid of J1772 L2 chargers, we are building more.

Yes, the main inpediment is getting that bev car that people like.

 

Probably not. But I think BMW said that their EV will come with free use of a gas rental when you need one. This is an interesting marketing model.

Mike