• @misk@sopuli.xyz
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      1011 months ago

      China is the center of lithium ion battery tech nowadays. I’ve recently seen that they managed to bring down battery prices by 50% in the last two years and their EVs are cheaper than combustion based alternatives for 2/3 of models being sold.

      • @Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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        1211 months ago

        Economy of scale is different from groundbreaking novel developments in the field.

        China is also the runaway leader in false discoveries and purposeful fraud in academia.

        • @misk@sopuli.xyz
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          11 months ago

          Agreed on all points but I have trouble believing that with this economy of scale there would be no money being pumped into R&D and in time some results of that.

    • mosiacmango
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      11 months ago

      Huge leap forward if the process is in the same ballpark expense wise. Being able to reduce a cars battery by 50% would reduce the prices by at least 5k, and likely have longer range because of the reduced weight.

      Edit : still very experimental. Battery only retains that energy density for 300 charges. This is an improvement from an earlier 50 cycles, but not really viable either.

  • veee
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    1411 months ago

    Just for comparison: the energy density of gasoline and diesel is around 10,000 Wh/kg.

    Never knew about this metric before.

    I’m looking forward to the instant benefits for e-bikes!

    • @frezik@midwest.social
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      711 months ago

      Not sure how much it’d improve ebikes. Maybe if you want to take a bike trip longer than 100 miles.

      If anything, sodium batteries are more exciting for ebikes. They’re more than enough for getting around town, and they’re cheap.

  • @Gennadios@lemmy.world
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    -911 months ago

    There needs to be a metric for how many gallons of water/kg the fire department will need to spray to extinguish the car.

    • @frezik@midwest.social
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      11 months ago

      The number is zero gallons, or sometimes very little.

      Trying to put out the self-oxidizing reaction of a lithium battery that way is a waste of time and water. Fire fighting teams that try to put it out like that will see the flames go down, then they let off, and then it starts right up again. In the end, the car burns through the entire battery pack one way or another. You’re just delaying the inevitable, and it takes most of the day and swimming pools of water to get done.

      Fire crews need new training and equipment. If possible, the car needs to be towed to a safer location. Then you let it burn. There are fire proof blankets that can cover the car to prevent spreading the fire elsewhere. Takes about an hour. Sometimes, a little water helps prevent spreading to other things, but it’s minimal.

      Edit: https://youtu.be/mNYwpTrYYBM