Solid-state batteries do not catch fire when they malfunction

Thursday, October 13th, 2022

NASA’s Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety (SABERS) have certain advantages over liquid batteries:

Instead of housing each individual battery cell inside its own steel casing, as liquid batteries do, all the cells in SABERS’s battery can be stacked vertically inside one casing. Thanks in part to this novel design, SABERS has demonstrated solid-state batteries can power objects at the huge capacity of 500 watt-hours per kilogram – double that of an electric car.

“Not only does this design eliminate 30 to 40 percent of the battery’s weight, it also allows us to double or even triple the energy it can store, far exceeding the capabilities of lithium-ion batteries that are considered to be the state of the art,” Viggiano said.

Safety is another key requirement for the use of batteries in electric aircraft. Unlike liquid batteries, solid-state batteries do not catch fire when they malfunction and can still operate when damaged, making them attractive for use in aviation.

SABERS researchers have tested their battery under different pressures and temperatures, and have found it can operate in temperatures nearly twice as hot as lithium-ion batteries, without as much cooling technology. The team is continuing to test it under even hotter conditions.

Comments

  1. Bob Sykes says:

    Lithium ion batteries have only one-tenth the energy density of gasoline/diesel, so their utility in vehicles of all sorts (other than golf carts, 7200 yards) is very limited. If the SABERS do not exceed that density by a huge margin, they have no future.

    The safety of lithium ion batteries is a major concern. They also have a very limited service life, less than 100,000 miles. Replacement costs are 10’s of thousands of dollars, so EV’s have essentially zero resale value.

    Modern gasoline/diesel vehicles are good for 200,000 miles. EV’s at less than 100,000 miles are outright fraud.

    All persons pushing solar/wind/renewables are engaged in fraud, whther they know it or not (most advocates, utterly gullible as they are).

  2. Michael Towns says:

    What Bob said.

  3. Borepatch says:

    I remember learning about solid state batteries back in Electrical Engineering school in the 1980s. This may be something (like fusion) that’s always 8 years in the future.

  4. Bomag says:

    What Borepatch said.

  5. Bomag says:

    Also,

    “Modern gasoline/diesel vehicles are good for 200,000 miles.”

    And much longer with repairs.

    And an order of magnitude more years of service.

  6. Mike in Boston says:

    “Modern gasoline/diesel vehicles are good for 200,000 miles. And much longer with repairs.”

    Unless you’re in New England and the brine they spray on the roads in winter makes your car’s unibody rust right through. Now I undercoat all my vehicles with Fluid Film.

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