Battery Materials and Associated Costs

On the basis of studies performed by the author on materials best suited for fabrication of rechargeable battery cells, it is found that lithium, nickel, cadmium, polymer, zinc, spinel, and manganese are most suitable for manufacturing the rechargeable battery packs widely used in EVs and HEVs. Although zinc is widely used in the manufacturing of zinc-air fuel cells, it can also be used in the fabrication of rechargeable battery packs for EVs and HEVs. 

The zinc-based cells combine atmospheric oxygen with zinc pellets to produce electricity. When all the zinc is consumed, the only by-product is zinc oxide, which is completely recyclable. The cells can be refueled in less than 10 minutes, thereby allowing the cells to be used almost constantly. This type of cell would never require shutdown for refueling purposes. Note that zinc cells offer several advantages over Li-ion batteries. First, zinc is widely available. Second, zinc is cheaper than lithium. Third, the worldwide zinc supply is enough to manufacture more than 1 billion 10 kWh zinc-air cells. By contrast, it would take roughly 180 years of hthium production to make an equivalent amount of Li-ion batteries. Fourth, most supphes of lithium are located outside of the United States, which means that Li-ion batteries would be manufactured outside of the country on the basis of cost-effective criterion. 

Li-ion batteries are widely used by the manufacturers of all-electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Li-ion batteries could require charging times of 4 to 10 h depending on the type of car and the battery power density and energy density. Therefore, recharging costs for Li-ion batteries will be much higher for HEVs compared with all-electric cars 

Li-ion batteries come in two categories Li-ion-alkaline batteries and Li-ion-polymer batteries. The Li-ion-alkaline battery packs are relatively cheaper than Li-ion-polymer batteries. The performance of Li-ion-polymer batteries is superior to the performance of conventional Li-ion-alkahne batteries, particularly in terms of energy density. Materials used, specific performance characteristics of various rechargeable battery packs widely used in EVs and HEVs, and parameters of various rechargeable batteries are summarized in Table 4.3. 

Critical Cell Parameter Critical Cell Parameter  

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