Sand Sifter
Well-known member
I stumbled upon a video that describes Elon Musk’s new Aluminum Ion battery technology developed for Tesla EV’s. The benefits of this new technology are HUGE from every metric. Although this technology was developed for Tesla’s EV’s (cars), the technology is so groundbreaking, I’m sure at some point it will start appearing in consumer batteries, like AA, AAA, 9V, etc.
If / when that happens; we could use the batteries in our detectors, which would be incredible. For instance, how would you like to buy a set of rechargeable batteries and never have to buy another set for the rest of your life? And how great would it be to fully charge your detector in just minutes, and be able to retain 90% of the battery's capacity even after 10,000 charge cycles? If you were somehow able to fully deplete and fully charge the battery every single day, it would take over 27 years to go through 10,000 charge cycles, and you’d still retain 90% of the battery's capacity 27 years from now, totally insane!
I have a feeling this new technology is going to totally shake up the battery industry. Here are some of the incredible benefits of this new battery technology that I grabbed from the video (link below):
If / when that happens; we could use the batteries in our detectors, which would be incredible. For instance, how would you like to buy a set of rechargeable batteries and never have to buy another set for the rest of your life? And how great would it be to fully charge your detector in just minutes, and be able to retain 90% of the battery's capacity even after 10,000 charge cycles? If you were somehow able to fully deplete and fully charge the battery every single day, it would take over 27 years to go through 10,000 charge cycles, and you’d still retain 90% of the battery's capacity 27 years from now, totally insane!
I have a feeling this new technology is going to totally shake up the battery industry. Here are some of the incredible benefits of this new battery technology that I grabbed from the video (link below):
- Aluminum Ion batteries are more economical, significantly lighter, and virtually incombustible compared to Lithium Ion.
- Lithium-Ion batteries become risky at temp’s above 120 degrees Celsius, but Aluminum Ion batteries provide superior heat resistance, and can operate safely up to 260+ degrees Celsius.
- Near Perfect Safety - Aluminum Ion batteries essentially eliminate fire risks, cutting risk of fire by 99% compared to Lithium Ion. And in Tesla’s crash testing, Aluminum Ion fire risk falls to 0.05%, or 50x safer than Lithium-Ion batteries, which carry a 2.5% fire risk in similar crash testing.
- Unprecedented Longevity - Lithium-Ion batteries lose significant capacity over time as battery is used and charged over & over. But Aluminum Ion batteries used in electric cars have a lifespan of approximately 3 million miles, or enough to last the lifetime of multiple cars. At average American usage, Aluminum Ion batteries could power a car for 200 years, so no worries about needing to spend $20,000 in several years to replace Lithium-Ion batteries. And in testing, Aluminum Ion battery prototypes have survived over 10,000 charge cycles while retaining 90% of their capacity.
- Aluminum Ion batteries are about ½ the cost of Lithium batteries. Aluminum is the 3rd largest natural resource, so availability of aluminum is abundant since Aluminum makes up about 8% of the Earth’s crust, while Lithium is only about 0.002%. Since Aluminum is multitudes more abundant than Lithium, it’s plentiful and cheaper to find & produce, where Lithium is much more difficult to find, making it much more expensive to find, mine & produce.
- Ultra-Fast Charging - The ions in an Aluminum Ion battery travel 3x faster than ions in a Lithium-Ion battery, which allows for unprecedented, never before seen ultra-fast charging speeds. You can charge your car in the time it would take grab a cup of coffee and never have to worry about the risk of fire.
- Aluminum Ion battery cells can handle far higher current without overheating than Lithium-Ion batteries.
- Power density in Aluminum Ion batteries is 3x - 4x higher than Lithium Ion.
- Aluminum Ion batteries are 100% recyclable, and up to 70% less energy intensive to reprocess.
- Aluminum Ion batteries are lighter than Lithium-Ion batteries and provide longer operating times before needing to be recharged. Wouldn’t that be great for a detector like the Fisher AQ, lol.
