Green technology

[Wim Warnez]

Hello everyone, I have a question about electric cars.


So an electric car uses batteries that are made out of Lithium (and some other stuff). But lithium isn't a durable resource, that means for the future we will have the same problem on shortage like petrol and diesel.

my question: how will manufacturers continue in the future? searching for another solution or making batteries of another substance?

regards,
Wim

[shorod]

I would expect both. Engineers and chemists will continue to develop alternative power solutions, both in different methods for generating power as well as different chemistries for storing the energy. It wasn't all that long ago that rechargeable lithium batteries were unheard of, but the technology has really developed a lot over the past several years.

-Rod

[MagicRat]

Batteries can be made out of many different substances, so limited lithium does not mean no more batteries.

Lithium is reclaimed for re-use when lithium batteries are recycled. So, unlike fossil fuels, its not gone forever. The old lithium can be re-used in new batteries.

Also, lithium is a relatively common element. The problem is in refining it. Improvements in technology will make lithium easier and cheaper to mine.

[Black Lotus]

Not a lot of Lithium is used in a Lithium-ion battery. I don't think either the cathode or the anode is lithium metal.
The typical Lithium ion battery as used in a car is termed a Lithium Iron Phosphate.
The Li-ion battery as used in a B787 has a lithium cobalt chemistry.
IBM is working on a lithium AIR battery!
Here's a good link.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...on_chemistries
Here's a pic of my skinny hand holding up one of my Li-ion batteries (LiFePo4) that I have installed in both of my Lotus cars. They weigh 9.5 lbs each including the computer management system inside the case.
The equivalent group 34 Optima batteries that I removed weighed 45 lbs each.