A Battery Breakthrough ?

 

 

Context :

IOC to set up fuel ethanol, EV battery plants    /   Business Line  /  25 Feb 2021

Extract :

IOC  will soon finalize plans for a GigaWatt scale EV battery manufacturing plant jointly with an Israeli company. The battery made with aluminum, which is abundantly available in India, will have the capability to return about 400 km. Indian Oil is in talks with most of the OEMs on its battery plans.

SSV Ramakumar,[ ramakumarssv@indianoil.in ], Director (R&D), Indian Oil, said it is gearing up for energy transitions and its petrol pumps will be able to offer not just petrol and diesel but methanol, ethanol, CNG, LNG, battery-swapping services and electric vehicle charging facilities.

The R&D Centre, …is currently focusing on the complete range of sunrise areas and alternate energy domains including petrochemicals, plastic neutrality, biofuels, hydrogen, fuel cells, energy storage batteries for EVs and carbon capture technologies.

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Dear Dr Ramakumar,

Congratulations, for developing an Aluminium-Air battery ( for EVs )

IOC had signed an MOU with Israeli company, PHINERGY , in Jan 2018 . So did Ashok Leyland . Very little was heard since then

It is, therefore heartening that IOC will soon “ finalize plans “ to set up a large factory for this battery , which will have huge advantages over Lithium-ion batteries , such as :

Ø  Eliminating dependence on imported Lithium ( near world monopoly of Lithium by China )

Ø  No need for Cobalt

Ø  No liquid electrolyte ( no chance of catching fire )

Ø  Abundance of Aluminum in India ( also much cheaper than Lithium )

Ø  Automatic / continuous, extraction of Oxygen from atmospheric Air ( by car-mounted battery itself )

Ø  Being “Primary / Non Rechargeable “ batteries , there is no need for road-side charging ( therefore no need for EV charging stations ) . An immediate saving ( in investment ) of Rs 195 lakh*crore  

Ø  No “ Range Anxiety “( one of the reasons EV are not selling like hotcakes in absence of charging stations )

Ø  Quite likely, Al-Air Battery cost can be brought down to $ 20 / Kwh ( as compared to current $ 100 / Kwh for Lithium-ion Batteries ). This will enable EVs to sell for Rs 5 lakh ( below ave price of Rs 7.7 lakh for India made ICE cars ) . In turn, this will eliminate the need to “ incentivize “ the car-manufacturers , or “ subsidize “ EV buyers . End of FAME II ?

Ø  No need to import Oil worth BILLIONS of DOLLARS ( for refining into Petrol / Diesel ) . No need to face public agitation for daily rise of Petrol / diesel prices !

Ø  If Alu-Air Batteries can be suitably modified for ENERGY STORAGE ( like TESLA’s POWERWALL ) , may be these can power ELECTRIC STOVES ( Cookers ) for use in kitchens , reducing indoor pollution

Ø  Last , but not the least, India will be able to earn BILLIONS of DOLLARS of foreign exchange, by exporting , not only these revolutionary batteries, but India-Made Electric Cars, all over the world . No country will be able to compete with us in COST / SELLING PRICE

      With regards,

      Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  26 Feb  2021

 

     My Past E-Mails on this subject :

Ø  EV juice from Alu-Air Battery ? ………………….[ 16 Jan 2018 ]

Ø  Ashok Leyland is not waiting ! …………………..[ 17 Jan 2018 ]

Ø  Ashok Leyland : On the double ………………….[ 01 Apr 2018 ]

Ø  25,000 New Petrol Pumps ? Why ? ……………[ 18 June 2018 ]