Jun 17, 2014

Electric car battery tech lets you go 1,000 miles between charges via @Computerworld

Computerworld - An Israeli company has teamed up with Alcoa to develop battery technology that allowed an all-electric car to travel 1,100 miles between charges.

The technology, a combination of an aluminum-air and lithium-ion battery, was demonstrated last week using an all-electric, sub-compact car at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve racetrack in Montreal.

The aluminum-air batteries, created by Israeli-based Phinergy and Canadian aluminum maker Alcoa, create energy by combining aluminum, ambient air and water.

Alcoa and Phinergy are collaborating on new materials, processes and components to commercialize the aluminum-air battery.

"The idea of metal-air batteries has been around for 100 years," said Doug Ramsey, Alcoa's business development manager. "With the partnership between Alcoa and Phinergy, we've optimized a system that can efficiently turn a solid piece of aluminum, with the addition of air and water as a catalyst, into a charge."