Are These Batteries The Future Of Energy Storage?

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[zachariah]

One important thing missing in this video (and many videos from many sources about energy storage systems) is the *EFFICIENCY*. For instance, some of the grid-scale storage systems are only 30-50% efficient, loosing the rest to heat in some part of the process of charging, storing, or discharging. I think this is a metric that we simply can't ignore, as it has fundamental implications for their long term economic viability, payback time, and appropriate use-cases.

[quester]

#1 Solid State 4:59
#2 Sodium 6:14
#3 Aluminum-Ion 7:33
#4 Niobium 8:43
#5 Lithium Sulfur 10:21

[Nexus_]

Aluminum Ion and Aluminum Air batteries are still the two I'm most interested in seeing develop. It feels like the wait for new battery types has been one of the longest in technology.

[Roundtablist]

My uncle worked on battery technology for Dunlop here in Australia in the 1970s and 80s - it always frustrated him how slowly they made progress due to the relatively primitive materials science they had at the time. Sadly he is no longer with us but I often think about how excited he would be if he could see how things have progressed in the 2000s since NiMH (which is probably more of a nineties thing), then Lithium Ion arrived. Despite some of the challenges the modern world is throwing at us today it is great that there are still things to wonder at.

[imagecrafting]

Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the work you do and I really appreciate the fact that you called your channel undecided. I think the world could use more undecided people rather than actively picking at Black or White. Our world is full of Gray. Thanks for all you do.

[Rob_]

I'd love to see more on recycling or environmental impact in general and fire/explosion risks. Safe energy storage is one of my main concerns, next to being able to properly recycle batteries.
As you mentioned, there is no battery to rule them all. A smaller capacity EV battery that can be charged super fast (like the Al-ion at 6C) means more charge cycles on the road but with the same energy demands as a double size 3C battery. Even if that Al-ion battery last half as long as traditional EV batteries but can be recycled properly (and does not cost as much) then this is a great solution for a lot of EVs.

[LeonardAustin]

Big fan of this comparison type video, would love to see a similar one on grid scale energy storage.

[royflaugher]

Great video, something to point out on the Lithium Sulfer batteries is the C-Rate comparison. You mention that they "only" have a 0.5C rate, whereas in reality that is basically the same as the Li-ion. A 1C rate at 200WH/KG is the same as a 0.5 C rate of a 400WH/KG battery in terms of power delivery per density. So basically, a 1KG battery in either chemistry could potentially deliver 200 watts over an hour, which to me sounds very promising.

[ameliabuns]

everyday, we see a new battery tech without change, i've been seeing this since 2005

[AK]

A year ago I swapped out my Lead-Acid for Lithium Iron Phosphate 100 amp batteries in my simple off grid home solar. Manufactured by Chins, (there are others also) they are a HUGE improvement in holding charge and charging speed at a cost very near Lead-Acid. Light weight, compact and available on Amazon. I'm now in off-grid heaven.

[IronmanV]

I think sodium ion will be a game changer in both grid and home stationary storage. What I have read has them at 30% of the cost of NMC, so figure a powerwall or Generac PWRcell for $5, 000 instead of $15, 000.

A lot more people could get home storage, including lower income households with subsidies or grants.

They could do this even before installing solar and use them for arbitrage reducing peak demand on the grid.

[PC]

Hey Matt, I think an interesting topic for a video would be the toroidal propellers currently being tested/manufactured at MIT and Sharrow given how they have so many potential applications across so many different markets.

[judyofthewoods]

For my small off-grid power system, the sodium-ion battery looks promising to me, especially with a potentially lower price tag and environmental footprint than lithium. And with the manufacturer being in Wales where I live, it's double lower footprint with short travel. I hope they are ready soon. My old lead acid batteries are close to dead.

[besknighter]

Awesome! Made me feel confident that the scenario in 5 years will be vastly different (or at least at the brink of becoming so) with several innovations still to come. Which is something VERY much needed.

[TheMarktp]

Perfect timing Matt! Always doing the research I am too lazy to do! Best science reporter on youtube!

[jerrym]

My focus is home energy storage which carries over to EV (eventually your EV will also provide home energy storage for backup power and for arbitrage scenarios). I think the technology with the greatest potential to change the world is the graphene super capacitor (similar to the Superbattery in your video). The technology is already here, but cost is still too high due to the manufacturing processes for graphene, but strides are being made in the right direction. The main advantage is the availability of raw materials (primarily aluminum and carbon), energy to weight ratio, and extremely fast rate of charge (minutes instead of hours). No more slave labor lithium or nickle mines. and recycling is easy. As for cycle potential is for 100, 000 cycles. Only cold fusion will be better.

[AlbertaGeek]

*"Lithium-ion replacement? Great new battery tech coming soon!"* Sorry, but we've walked past this same tree a dozen times and the thrill is gone. Wake me when lithium-ion has _been_ replaced.

[Liithiumbob]

Hi. You touched on the vehicle charging issue briefly. This is one of the big elephants in the room. I'd like to hear some more discussion on the huge infrastructure limitations that apply fairly universally. As an exercise use a low "C" charge rate of 5C (12 minutes) to charge a 60kWh EV battery. Now multiply that by 10 cars at the charging station at once. The power being drawn from the grid is enormous. I've worked in the electrical industry for over 30 years and know there's decades of upgrades ahead of us and we're already way behind. Don't get me wrong. I love EV's. There's a lot of work to be done on the entire electrical chain in addition to battery development. Most of which seems to be getting put in the too hard basket.

[aL_]

great stuff, i'm surprised some of these are so close to commercial use, obviously there might be some delays but it really feels like the next couple of years are going to see a lot of exciting stuff..
something like 5 years is really not _that_ long :) also having more options for battery tech will reduce the pressure on any one technology, like we have for lithium today, so that's only a good thing i think

[krNishant]

Thanks for quick updates, I'm really excited to see what future will unfold.
imo top 3 contender which we'll see soon are Solid state, Aluminum ion battery (for Ev, and smaller electronics), And Sodium batteries (for home/grid purposes).