New Battery Research & Development

[BlueSovereign]

See this article just posted on the NY Times web site:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/sc...t.html?_r=1&hp

[mesquaukee]

Interesting. If they are using lithium there is one small problem. Half of the worlds supply of lithium is in Bolivia. The Bolivians are reluctant to mine it. There will shortly be a shortage of lithium due to its increased use.

[BlueSovereign]

Hey, I'm just trying to update Cruisers ... FTR, I have no desire or interest (only because I can't make $$$ from it) to debate the Geopolitical issues it manifests....

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by mesquaukee

... There will shortly be a shortage of lithium due to its increased use.

As with many things, there seems to be two entirely differing viewpoints (exemplified by Evans & Tahil) on the future availability of lithium.
William Tahil ~ “The Trouble With Lithium"
R. Kieth Evans ~ “Lithium Abundance – World Lithium Reserves"

[Rising Star]

Mastervolt will sell you a LI-ion battery for your boat now. 24V MLI (Li-Ion) | Mastervolt.

Next time I need batteries for my motor (hopefully not for a few years) the price will be more reasonable and I'll double my available power while shedding 150 pounds of dead (or is that lead?) weight.

[CharlieJ]

The Mastervolt Li ion battery retails for $5,400 each.

Charlie

[Sunspot Baby]

Disposal of LI batteries is a problem now. Of course, disposal of lead acid batteries used to be a problem and now they are virtually 100% recyclable into new batteries. Hope the same will be true for LI.

George

[S&S]

There are much cheaper Li batteries than Mastervolt. Most come from China (that also has large lithium reserves, surprize). The battery isn't the only cost - these need much more active control than Pb-Acid as the internal resistance does not vary much with state of charge.After seeing some posts from Chris (see the NiCd thread) I'm looking at LiFePO4 chemistry for a house bank. This looks like it'll be Quite A Project.