On every count, nanoelectrofuel flow batteries appear to beat lithium-ion batteries for use in EVs and larger systems. Influit expects that its current generation of nanoelectrofuel, together with the entire ecosystem needed to produce, distribute, and recycle the fuel that the company is building around it, should cost $130/kWh when used in an EV. In comparison, lithium-ion batteries cost around $138/kWh. True, lithium-ion’s costs should drop below $100/kWh in a few years, but Influit expects its next-generation nanoelectrofuel to fall even further, to around $50 to $80/kWh. That next-gen system should have 5 times the energy density of present Li-ion systems.
Here’s what that means for an EV.
A typical EV battery today occupies about the same volume as would a flow battery with 400 liters of nanelectrofuel. If nanoparticles made up 30 percent of the weight of that fuel, the EV would have a range of only 105 km. Raise that to 40 percent, and the range would climb to 274 km. At 50 percent, it hits 362 km. And at 80 percent, it’s 724 km (450 miles). And that’s all assuming the flow battery’s tank remains the same size.
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