Lead-acid batteries advantages

The Na—S battery couple is a strong candidate for appHcations ia both EVs and aerospace. Projected performance for a sodium—sulfur-powered EV van is shown ia Table 4 for batteries having three different energies (68). The advantages gained from usiag a Na—S system rather than the conventional sealed lead—acid batteries are evident. 

Lead-acid batteries remain popular because of their capability to seiwice high and low current demand, produce high voltage, provide capacity up to 100 A-h, and recharge well. Moreover, the lead-acid battery has important material and construction advantages, such as simple fabrication of lead components, the low cost of materials (lead is abundant and much less expen-... 

Table 7.15 Advantages and disadvantages of the lead-acid battery...

The main advantages of Ni/Cd over lead-acid batteries is the higher discharge rate possible and the longer cycle life. At an 8-hour discharge rate (C/8), the two batteries may be nearly equal in energy density, but at a 30 minute rate (2C) the Ni/Cd battery still performs well whereas the lead-acid battery can barely work, losing 80% of its capacity or more. 

An all-plastic battery may have many advantages [26]. For example, a car battery made of polyacetylene could weigh only one-tenth of that of a conventional lead-acid battery. Moreover, batteries with plastic electrodes could be fabricated into odd shapes, such as a flat disc that could be slotted into a car door. Prototype batteries have been made using polyacetylene and poly-p-phenylene electrodes, but a number of technical problems, such as long-term mechanical integrity need to be solved. 

To date, lithium-ion battery is the gold standard for miniaturized power supply. However, it has potential safety issues, and it is neither carbon-neutral nor renewable. Almost all other miniaturized power supplies including hydrogen fuel cells, nuclear batteries, Ni-Cd batteries, and lead-acid batteries suffer from either safety or environmental issues. MFC is a potential substitute of miniaturized power supply, for its carbon-neutral, renewable, and environmentally friendly characteristics. By applying microfabrication and microfluidic techniques, the advantages of economical mass production and large surface-area-to-volume ratio will enable MFC, a potential candidate in the miniaturized power supply. 

A major advantage of the lead-acid battery is that it can be recharged. During recharging, an external source of energy is used to reverse the direction of the cell reaction, regenerating Pb(s) and Pb02(s) ... 

Regenerative Power and Motion have shown the advantages of flywheel source of energy over lead acid batteries in Table 23.9. 

Nickel metal hydride and lithium batteries are also under development for HEVs. However, safety, low cost and readily available materials give lead-acid batteries some important advantages for a consumer mass market, fii addition, an industry is already in place and well capable of recycling nearly 100% of commercial lead-acid batteries. 

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