Is this another black technology? An in-depth analysis of flow battery technology

1. Analysis of flow battery

Recently, nanoFLOWCELL, an electric car brand from Liechtenstein, released the new QUANT48Volt concept sports car, which uses the latest low-voltage liquid flow battery technology. The maximum power will reach 762 horsepower, the top speed will be 300km/h, the acceleration from 0 to 100km/h will be 2.4s, and the maximum cruising range may exceed 1000km.

I believe that everyone is already accustomed to this kind of news, but in fact, for ordinary consumers like us, this kind of "ultra-realistic concept car" is still far away from us, and the most important thing is the price... According to the news, the price of this car in the future is as high as RMB 10 million. However, the reason for mentioning this news is that this concept car uses an uncommon "liquid flow battery".

The most common types of batteries for electric vehicles are lithium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, etc. (of course there are many small categories, which I will not mention one by one). As for flow batteries, the brand first launched concept products in 2014, and the Geneva Motor Show, which will open in March, will bring real cars to the display. Below, the author will introduce to you what flow batteries are... and whether flow batteries can become the mainstream driving method for electric vehicles in the future.

Flow Battery

Loosely speaking, flow batteries are "liquid" batteries, not solid-state batteries, which can be understood from the name alone. So what exactly are flow batteries?

In fact, liquid flow batteries were not originally used as battery systems in electric vehicles. Japan uses liquid flow batteries for peak load regulation in power stations and wind energy storage facilities, which is enough to prove the powerful storage capacity of liquid flow batteries.

Of course, if the large storage capacity of liquid flow batteries is an advantage, it is both a blessing and a curse to use them in pure electric vehicles. A large storage capacity means a large volume, and for a car, a large volume battery is not suitable for loading on a car, which is the contradiction. (But according to news, the concept car of the nanoFLOWCELL brand mentioned earlier has developed a high-density liquid flow battery, which will be introduced in detail below)

2. Advantages of flow batteries

The following two pictures clearly show the working principle of flow batteries:

In fact, the biggest difference between flow batteries and ordinary lithium battery pure electric vehicles is that flow batteries play the role of "engine" in the overall structure of the car, rather than the energy storage mechanism we often see. The positive and negative electrolyte tanks continuously provide fuel to the flow battery, and a redox reaction occurs in the membrane, thereby generating current.

Having said so much, what everyone must be most concerned about is its advantages, that is, the advantages of flow batteries compared to lithium batteries:

● Rated power and rated energy are independent. The power depends on the battery stack, and the energy depends on the electrolyte. The amount of electrolyte can be increased at will to increase the battery capacity.

●The battery has an unlimited shelf life and a long storage life. The electrolyte is recycled and there is no deterioration problem. However, after long-term use, the resistance of the battery diaphragm increases.

●It can be recharged instantly by replacing the electrolyte.

......

In fact, there are many advantages of liquid flow batteries. Given so many advantages, why are they not popularized? The most important reason is that the technology is immature and the cost is very high, which leads to their inability to be popularized.

The concept of liquid flow battery launched by the nanoFLOWCELL brand was introduced to the world as early as 2014. After three years of technical development and accumulation, the concept car will finally be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

What is so magical about the nanoFLOWCELL brand QUANT48Vt concept car? Has it really solved the technical difficulties of liquid flow batteries?

3. Advantages of QUANT 48Volt Flow Battery Concept Car

QUANT48Volt flow battery concept car

●Innovative energy

nanoFlowcell® is currently the most innovative and powerful energy storage system for mobile and stationary applications. Compared to conventional batteries, nanoFlowcell provides energy in the form of a liquid electrolyte (bi-10N), which can be stored away from the battery itself. Like a conventional flow cell, the positively and negatively charged electrolyte liquids are stored in two tanks respectively and, like a conventional flow cell or fuel cell, pumped through the converter (the actual cell of the nanoFlowcell cell system) in separate circuits. The two electrolyte circuits are separated only by a permeable membrane. As soon as the positive electrolyte solution and the negative electrolyte solution pass each other on either side of the converter membrane, an ion exchange occurs. This converts the chemical energy bound within the bi-ION into electricity, which can then be used directly for electrical consumers.

●Scalable energy

With nanoFlowcell® technology, the separation of energy converter and energy storage medium means that the stored energy is no longer dependent on the cell size. This is where flow batteries differ from conventional types of batteries. With nanoFlowcell®, the available energy depends on the concentration of electrolytes in the electrolyte liquid and the volume of the electrolyte container. Due to its unlimited scalability, nanoFlowcell can therefore be adapted to a wide variety of applications.

●Fast charging and discharging

By replacing the electrolyte, it can be recharged instantly, which is also the characteristic of flow batteries.

●Innovative charge carriers

One more thing to say here: bi-ION is the liquid energy carrier of nanoFlowcell®. The power density of the electrolyte is comparable to that of today's lithium-ion batteries, but its energy density is five times higher. bi-ION is the perfect fuel for environmentally compatible and sustainable electric drives.

The bi-ION is crucial to the power characteristics of the nanoFlowcell® system. Through years of research, the company has developed special charge carriers that make the power and energy density of the electrolyte significantly higher than all liquid batteries currently on the market.

●High energy density

The charge carriers developed by the company allow significantly higher concentrations than previously possible with electrolytes in conventional flow cells. Compared to electrolyte tanks in stationary equipment with volumes of several thousand liters, only the tank volume of a conventional car is needed to achieve the performance of the QUANTiNO48VOLT. At the current state of development, an energy density of 600Wh/l was achieved using bi-ION. Compared to the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles, nanoFlowcell® running on bi-ION is able to deliver enough energy to reach 5 times that of a conventional electric vehicle.

4. Whether it can be mass-produced and technical issues

The above are just the advantages of the power system. The following are the advantages of the concept car itself.

●In-wheel motor technology

The QUANT48Volt concept car is equipped with electric motors in all four wheels, which can achieve independent torque output of the four wheels. This is equivalent to not needing a differential to adjust the torque between the wheels.

●Long driving range

The company has solved the density problem of flow batteries. According to the official range, the new car will have a range of more than 1,000 km, which is a long range that cannot be achieved with the current technology level.

●Powerful power system

According to official data, the new car has a maximum power of 762 horsepower, a top speed of 300km/h, and an acceleration time of 0-100km/h of 2.4s.

If we talk about disadvantages, I think the biggest disadvantages are technical problems and high prices.

Although the technology of this concept car is very advanced, it is still not mass-produced. Considering the development funds alone, the price of a car is estimated by foreign media to be no less than 10 million RMB.

If it cannot reach mass production level, no matter how strong the technical reserves are, it will only remain a concept. As consumers, we cannot immerse ourselves in the beautiful concepts created by these companies. Looking at the current electric vehicle technology, it still takes some time to achieve such a high level. It is still unknown whether qualified products can be truly brought to the market.

Final Thoughts

In fact, I am not exaggerating how advanced the technology of the QUANT48Volt concept car is. Of course, these are only theoretical values. Electric vehicles are indeed the development trend of the future automobile industry, which is an indisputable fact. No matter how much the government or enterprises promote it, we consumers only care about whether the product is convenient for daily life.

Why do you buy a car? The definition of a car is nothing more than a tool, a prop, or a toy. Most electric cars on the market are defined as tools, but they are facing a series of social problems such as charging piles that cannot be alleviated. It can be said that you are asking for trouble. To borrow a sentence from a well-known V in the car circle, do you eat to charge, or do you charge to eat?

In short, there are still some doubts about whether electric cars are environmentally friendly. I believe that these are not what most car owners really care about. What is crucial is when the charging and stability problems can be solved under the car, otherwise everything is just a "scam".