New Battery May Greatly Extend Electric Car Range

VOA News
5 June 2014 (4:25PM)

Electric cars are already on the roads but the demand is still low due to their relatively short range.

This week in Canada, an Israeli company plans to demonstrate a new aluminum-air battery, claiming it can extend the electric car’s range by 1,600 kilometers.

So-called metal-air batteries have been around for some time but with limited use because they cannot be recharged. Once depleted, such a battery must be replaced with a fresh one.

The batteries produce electricity through a chemical reaction between aluminum plates dipped in ordinary water and oxygen from the air. But as aluminum oxidizes, the reaction stops.

The Israeli company says its technology allows for the reaction to continue, so the car can run for hundreds of kilometers. The spent batteries could be quickly replaced at service stations while the aluminum from depleted batteries is recyclable and could be used in new batteries.