An Israel-based battery company has demonstrated an aluminum-air chemistry that it claims can deliver as much as 1,000 miles per charge to electric cars. Clean technology company Phinergy, teaming with Alcoa, demonstrated the new electric car battery on a racetrack in Montreal this week in association with the Canadian International Aluminum Conference. At the demonstration, the two companies suggested the new technology would be used as an electric car range extender, in conjunction with a small conventional lithium-ion battery.
The concept behind electric cars is solid enough: Rather than use air polluting gasoline to power motors, use an electrically charged battery instead. But when it comes to driving these eco-friendly vehicles on an actual highway, many consumers suffer from “range anxiety” – the fear that their car batteries won’t have enough power to get them to their destination. Plus, it’s not as if there are many places where drivers can “fill up” on electricity in case their car runs out of juice. Now, battery maker Phinergy and metal manufacturer Alcoa are working together to give these electric cars an extra boost. This week, the two companies revealed their modified Citroen C1 car, which contains a regular lithium-ion battery and a novel “aluminum-air” battery. Together, the batteries extend the car’s range up to 1,000 miles after a single charge. That’s compared to a range of 80 to 300 miles for regular electric cars, which run on lithium-ion batteries alone.
