Graphene battery

Graphene is the thinnest and hardest nanomaterial known in the world. It has the characteristics of extremely low electrical resistivity and extremely fast electron migration. It is known as the "king of materials" of the new generation in the 21st century. Graphene battery is a new type of battery developed by using the characteristics of rapid and massive shuttle movement of lithium ions between the graphene surface and the electrode.

At present, the energy density of common ternary lithium-ion batteries is 180-200mAh/g, while the energy density of graphene polymer battery can exceed 600mAh/g. In other words, if the battery on the Tesla P85 is replaced with a graphene battery of the same weight, its cruising range will reach about 1500km, which is three times the original.

In addition to the high energy density, the charging speed of graphene batteries is much faster than that of lithium-ion batteries, which can effectively solve the problem of long charging time. Its life span is also very long, which can reach twice that of a lithium-ion battery.

Graphene batteries have superior performance, but the cost is not high, but 77% lower than lithium-ion batteries. The use of graphene batteries will be able to effectively reduce the cost of electric vehicles, thereby enhancing market competitiveness.

However, as we all know, due to technical reasons, graphene batteries cannot be commercialized for the time being. However, this situation may be improved within a few years, because there are already several new types of batteries under development, which will turn out at any time. Born, change the world.

Lithium-sulfur battery
Lithium-sulfur battery is a kind of lithium-ion battery, which uses sulfur element as the positive electrode material of the battery. The theoretical energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries is as high as 1675mAh/g, which is much higher than that of graphene batteries.

Battery manufacturers add graphene materials to lithium-sulfur batteries to improve their performance.

The current problem faced by lithium-sulfur batteries is that sulfur will dissolve into the electrolyte solution to form sulfides, and the cathode made of sulfur will be exhausted after only a few weeks, causing the battery to fail. However, at present, some manufacturers have solved this problem by adding graphene materials to the lithium-sulfur battery to fix the sulfur cathode, and the lithium-sulfur battery is one step closer to practical use.

Isotope Nuclear Battery

The isotope nuclear battery has nothing to do with nuclear reactions (nuclear fusion, nuclear fission). It uses the decay of radioactive isotopes to generate energy. Its biggest feature is its long life span, which can reach more than ten years or even hundreds of years. During this period, the isotope nuclear battery can continuously release electrical energy without charging.

Isotope nuclear batteries were first used on spacecraft, and later entered the civilian field, supplying power for pacemakers and artificial hearts.
To apply nuclear isotope batteries to electric vehicles, two problems must be overcome, one is the low output power, and the other is the high cost. Take the SNAP-27A nuclear battery on the Apollo spacecraft as an example. Its output power is only 63.5W, and the output power in a day is less than 2kWh. For electric vehicles, it is basically a drop in the bucket. As for the cost, it is said that an isotope nuclear battery with an output power of 500mW has been purchased from Russia at a price of up to 30 million yuan.

Once a breakthrough is made in isotope nuclear batteries, future cars will no longer need to be refueled.
Obviously, nuclear batteries are still a bit sci-fi about electric vehicles, but once the problems of output power and cost are solved, electric vehicles will not need to be charged for life, and they will continue to ride on the road. Gas stations and charging stations will become history. The isotope nuclear battery is truly a technology of the future, and perhaps it will replace all other batteries in 50 years and become an indispensable part of our lives.