Liquid Electricity

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by stieger

Yes I know, but I feel like we can both agree that hydrogen cars are not possible on a mass production scale. I mean the cost to capture and transport the hydrogen alone is enough on its own. I was just saying that this isn't an overnight switch that we could do. It would take years, possibly decades, before we could convert over to this "electro-jelly"

Sure, but problems are rarely solved overnight. It will probably be a decade before its ready for production to start with. But just because its going to take a while doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted. And it could have a fairly quick ramp up too, if it proves to be viable. The key problem is the chicken and the egg scenario that any alternative fuel faces: without infrastructure, nobody will buy the cars and without the cars, nobody will build the infrastructure. But if millions are being spent right now on charging stations, that money could easily be switched to building these things. You'd need a few small ones in an area to start with, then as demand grows, build more (and bigger) stations.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by KnightRiderSS

I bet they will have a difficult time bringing this concept to reality...enough energy is stored in those batteries to kill you....

There is enough energy in a regular car battery to kill you too. And don't even think about how much energy is in 50 lbs of gasoline ...

[Mr. Wyndham]

That's actually pretty cool.

GM had been/is doing work on replacing the battery fluids to "refresh" them after a lifecycle....hopefully they visit this technology as part of that effort.

Awesome find!

[Apex Motorsports]

Very interesting.

[KXRM]

This is called a flow battery. The gel is recyclable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_battery

[Txmxracer]

This is really good news. But like others are saying, how long will it take before the infrastructure is built to make this readily available?

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by KnightRiderSS

I bet they will have a difficult time bringing this concept to reality...enough energy is stored in those batteries to kill you....

Awe shucks, that's half the fun

[KnightRiderSS]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

There is enough energy in a regular car battery to kill you too. And don't even think about how much energy is in 50 lbs of gasoline ...

Not to argue with you but...there is a difference between chemical bonds and electricity..and even how electricity is stored....sure a car regular battery has enough energy to kill you but it doesn't put out enough current to do so...the chemical bonds in gasoline require a flame to break apart....and even must be aerosolized/vapor to cause a violent explosion...

hybrid car batteries produce anywhere from 100-300V and have more than enough current to overcome the resistance in your body...easily stopping your heart....hence why you will never find me working under the hood of one...

So how will this charged electrolyte gel be transferred to your vehicle? What happens if it comes in contact with you? What happens if it comes into contact with water/metal/etc?(underground storage anyone?) What if it spills? Is it possible for current to flow into you while you are pumping it?

All I am saying there is a BUNCH of things this article doesn't address...

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by KnightRiderSS

Not to argue with you but...there is a difference between chemical bonds and electricity..and even how electricity is stored....sure a car regular battery has enough energy to kill you but it doesn't put out enough current to do so...the chemical bonds in gasoline require a flame to break apart....and even must be aerosolized/vapor to cause a violent explosion...

hybrid car batteries produce anywhere from 100-300V and have more than enough current to overcome the resistance in your body...easily stopping your heart....hence why you will never find me working under the hood of one...

So how will this charged electrolyte gel be transferred to your vehicle? What happens if it comes in contact with you? What happens if it comes into contact with water/metal/etc?(underground storage anyone?) What if it spills? Is it possible for current to flow into you while you are pumping it?

All I am saying there is a BUNCH of things this article doesn't address...

It only takes 0.1A to stop your heart, nearly any battery can do that. And gasoline doesn't need to explode in order to be fatal. Fire can kill you just as dead. The extra danger with gasoline is that after an accident, the vapour in the air around the car could ignite in a large fireball/weak explosion followed an inferno from the pool of gasoline. With a battery like this, I imagine that if it ruptured it would simply cease to work as a battery, thereby eliminating the possibility of electrocution ... its a fail-safe design.

The point I'm trying to make is that gasoline has its inherent dangers, as does electricity. But not too many people are afraid that their gas tank will erupt into a fiery ball of death in an accident. Why? Part of it is complacency, but there are also multiple layers of safety systems practically prevent it from happening. There is absolutely no reason to think that somehow none of the engineers building EV's (or hydrogen cars, or CNG cars) will consider how to make their vehicle safe and that they'll be worse than the automotive standard of the previous century.

[knowitman]

Originally Posted by KnightRiderSS

Not to argue with you but...there is a difference between chemical bonds and electricity..and even how electricity is stored....sure a car regular battery has enough energy to kill you but it doesn't put out enough current to do so...the chemical bonds in gasoline require a flame to break apart....and even must be aerosolized/vapor to cause a violent explosion...

hybrid car batteries produce anywhere from 100-300V and have more than enough current to overcome the resistance in your body...easily stopping your heart....hence why you will never find me working under the hood of one...

So how will this charged electrolyte gel be transferred to your vehicle? What happens if it comes in contact with you? What happens if it comes into contact with water/metal/etc?(underground storage anyone?) What if it spills? Is it possible for current to flow into you while you are pumping it?

All I am saying there is a BUNCH of things this article doesn't address...

I would imagine that the filler for your car would actually act more as a closed system unlike the way we fill our cars today. It would actually lock to your car and form a seal as to prevent leaks. Since batteries require both a cathode and anode, with current only occurring with electron flow between the two, I doubt that coming in contact with the gel will cause a current. As for what happens if it comes in contact with other materials as well as storage, there are hundreds if not thousands of regulations regarding the transportation and storage of gasoline. All of your issues would be addressed before this stuff would even reach the consumer. This article doesn't address them because it is talking about a potential product that is still in pretesting developmental stage.

[kbui]

Originally Posted by KnightRiderSS

All I am saying there is a BUNCH of things this article doesn't address...

All end products started with an idea and then followed by R&D and then productions. The article is just bringing to our attention of a good idea and people are just starting to look at. If the idea proves to be workable, there will be innovations to help contain it and mass produce it. It's too early to nitpick about the article and the idea at this point. I am certainly interested in more info.