Aluminium fuel cell news article.

Daily Mail Article

Per the article.

Few will have heard of Jackson's extraordinary invention. The reason, he says, is that since he and his company Metalectrique Ltd came up with a prototype a decade ago, he has faced determined opposition from the automobile industry establishment. It has every reason not to give ground to a competitor that may, in time, render its own technology obsolete. Car industry sceptics claim Trevor's technology is unproven, and its benefits exaggerated. But an independent evaluation by the Government agency UK Trade and Investment said in 2017 that it was a 'very attractive battery' based on 'well established' technology, and that it produced much more energy per kilogram than standard electric vehicle types.



Link to Youtube video.

It appears that his secret is the liquid electrolyte used. Also these would be one use batteries or fuel cells that would need replacement once used up. So opinions? Think they can make a dent in the car market?

a reply to: ntech

Wonder what their cost would be if they are good for only one cycle.

Cheers

a reply to: ntech

Lots of potential here by the sound of it - I'm reading through the FAQs on the Metalectrique site, which further explains some common questions about this technology: www.metalectrique.com...

originally posted by: ntech
It appears that his secret is the liquid electrolyte used. Also these would be one use batteries or fuel cells that would need replacement once used up. So opinions? Think they can make a dent in the car market?

From what I can tell they would work as one use "batteries" but the question is how economical are they?

I suspect any claims that it's equally economical as other alternatives are false, I think the economics of such single use batteries will be very unfavorable from what I've looked into. This isn't even the worst part of the economics, but just think of all the extra shipping/transportation costs to distribute all the new batteries once your single use is used up, costs that don't exist with rechargeable batteries. And if you consider the full life cycle of re-processing the aluminum so it can be used in another battery, again I think you'll find that uses a lot of energy, way more than rechargeable batteries.

While it's not economical for uses like cars which are not one time use items, aluminum based power sources have some specialized applications where they make sense, for example in some one time use items where having a one time use power source is compatible with the application.

So the guy has worked in the royal navy, Rolls and BAE.

Hopefully this is legit and will lead to meaningful change.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

I was also thinking how they would work in a winter environment. Central US, January morning, and 20 below zero F. Battery warming could be a problem.

a reply to: ntech

The biggest problem with renewable energy is the battery storage.
This doesn't look like it addresses that issue.
But cars are different.

You don't recharge the battery, you recycle..
I would like to read the research on this one.

originally posted by: grey580
So the guy has worked in the royal navy, Rolls and BAE.

Hopefully this is legit and will lead to meaningful change.

It wouldn't surprise me if BAE and Rolls have a big lawsuit over this one. Most companies that do multimillion dollar research own your intellectual property while you are employed and for multiple years after. Not sure where this guy fits.

Would these one use batteries be able to be recycled to lower the ecological impact? That is kind of important, especially with a big battery. I can see some applications but changing a battery every fifteen hundred miles would be kind of a hastle, you would probably need a cherry picker to pull it out.

a reply to: Arbitrageur
Read their site. They say they will come to you and exchange the unit for free. Just charge you 7 pence per mile. This is not a battery it's a one use fuel cell.

a reply to: ntech

The spent cell is aluminum hydroxide. The hydroxide would then be converted back to aluminum by electrolytic reduction? And he claims that he can do it cheaply? Afaik it is the most energy intensive part of aluminum production.

Other than that, it sounds pretty awesome imho. Have cell stations where you can exchange spent cells. Have at least two cells in a car. So when one is spent you can still drive to the station swap the spent one.

a reply to: crayzeed

I saw that. 7 pence per mile.... how much is in dollars for 1,500 miles?

a reply to: Bluntone22

Well he sounds like a smart cookie.

Hopefully he just was just looking at old ideas that were no longer patented and took it from there.

a reply to: grey580

380

Jaden

a reply to: grey580

Per the calculator at today's exchange rate of 1.29 cents on 10500 pence is $135.55. Or 9.03 cents a mile.

Not a bad number if they can actually hit it.

a reply to: grey580

You don't understand.
Companies like the ones he worked for have all employees sign paperwork agreeing that anything they invent while employed and usually for several years after are the companies property. And I mean "anything" even things unrelated to the companies research.
You don't get hired without signing those papers.

I would assume if he worked in any research department this would be the case.

a reply to: Bluntone22
Nothing new there. Just like a certain Mr Edison. He had quite a few people working on "his" inventions, but he got the credit cos it was his company.

a reply to: Bluntone22

No I get that.

I guess we will find out if any one of them sue him.

originally posted by: grey580
a reply to: Bluntone22

No I get that.

I guess we will find out if any one of them sue him.

What is funny is the inventor of the lithium battery had a infinite rechargeable one made with glass.

This cell is just aluminium, potassium hydroxide and a bit of gallium. The gallium breaks the protective oxide layer of the aluminium and the potassium hydroxide reacts with the aluminium to make hydrogen gas which it then burned and turns into water.

It is very simple but in my opinion, batteries are still better.