Lithium Batteries Used In New "green" Cars: Is This The Answer?

By definition, an electric vehicle is one that is powered by an electric motor rather than a gasoline engine

. It gets energy from a controller based on the drivers pressure on the gas pedal. The electric car motor uses energy stored by the rechargeable battery and can typically travel around 100 miles between charges.

Since many people are pushing for an environmentally friendly vehicle, the use of the electric vehicle is beginning to grow. In fact, J. D. Powers and Associates predict that while in 2010 electric cars make up only 2.2% of the vehicles on the road, that by 2020 that number will be 7.3% and a Consumer Reports study shows that 39% of people survey are considering purchasing an electric vehicle as their next auto investment.

Perhaps one of the contributing factors to this increase is that proponents of the EV encourage the use of the Lithium-ion battery as an energy source. By replacing the traditional gasoline powered engine, vehicles require less maintenance as it is no longer necessary to change the oil or other filters associated with vehicle maintenance. However, there is still some debate as to whether the lithium battery powered vehicle is the answer.

For instance, lithium batteries do have less affect on the environment than their traditional counterparts but in order to work properly lithium batteries require a large amount of copper and aluminum. As these metals are needed for producing the anode, cathode, cables and the battery management system, this means more mining of these elements which means the added environmental burden of more energy expended and more chemicals and water usage. Also, a 2008 study cited by Meridian International of France found that there is less Lithium available than thought, with the bulk of the Lithium being found in ecologically unstable areas of the world. If we sacrifice regions of the world such as rainforest and tropical jungles in order to build Lithium batteries, then we have only exchanged one problem for another. Also, as Americans we would only swapping our dependence for oil from the Middle East to a dependence on imported Lithium.

With the effects on the ecology in mind, researchers at the Swiss startup, ReVolt Technology are now testing to see if Lithium-ion batteries could be replaced by a zinc-air battery. Their studies are showing that the zinc-air battery, while slightly less energy dense, is much cheaper (one-fifth the cost) to produce and it is easier to find than Lithium, which would ultimately make it more widely available. An added benefit of the zinc-air battery is that it is safer to use than the Lithium batteries as it does not require the same expensive thermal safety precautions. Currently, zinc is being used in assortment of batteries, but none of them are rechargeable.

Lithium-ion or zinc-air batteries are both viable options for the electric vehicle. And, when it comes to the benefits of the electric vehicle there is still much to learn and uses to explore. Yes, the electric vehicle is a great answer to the pollution caused by the gasoline engine, but there are still many considerations before deeming the Lithium battery the energy source of choice.

by: Patrick Boswell

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