Tiny button-sized batteries that power hearing aids and pocket pagers could hold the key to future of the electric car – if they can be made big enough.
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While lithium-ion batteries have emerged as the preferred choice for the coming generation of hybrid cars, the so-called metal-air battery is tipped to be the next big thing, according to The Nikkei newspaper in Japan.
Toyota has already established a battery research department to investigate metal-air batteries. The major problem is that it’s not yet known if they can be scaled up to the size needed for electric cars.
In metal-air batteries electricity is generated by a reaction between oxygen in the air and a metal like zinc at the negative electrode.
The battery doesn’t need a combustible liquid electrolyte, so there is no danger of ignition which means it is much safer than other batteries, said The Nikkei.
And an air battery has over fives times the energy-storage capacity of a similarly-sized lithium-ion battery.
According to a study for Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the widespread adoption of electric cars hinges on the development of batteries with seven times the performance of today’s batteries but costing 40 times less to make.
The Nikkei says that the Toshiba Battery Company has conducted research on air batteries for many years and knows their weak spot: they don’t perform well when made in larger sizes. So the company has no current plans to develop air-batteries for cars but acknowledges their potential.
Toyota’s current generation of hybrid cars use nickel metal hydrogen batteries. Plug-in hybrids running on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries will debut in 2010.
