17 Dec 2023, 6:36 pm
". . . it seems that we keep hearing about a new breakthrough, and another step closer to that long sought elusive goal of a truly workable battery storage system. Perhaps one day soon we’ll have a battery that displays no “memory” effect, one that can be completely discharged or overcharged without harm, and require no complex computerized management system. This battery could even prove so durable it will be immune to damage from vibration and not break down chemically over time. In operation, such a battery might even routinely outlast the very vehicle or machine it was designed to operate in! Last, we could complete our wish list by adding in the impossible: low materials toxicity, simple construction, and, of course, good energy density.
Does such a battery sound like too much to hope for?
Thomas Edison didn’t think so when in 1899 -- working with a design pioneered by Waldemar Jungner -- he patented a battery with all these characteristics.
It was Edison’s hope that electric vehicles -- which currently had the lead in popularity -- would easily trump internal combustion or steam to be the vehicle of choice of his time, and ours. The Edison cell had a greater energy density than popular lead acid, and recharged in half the time. Astoundingly, it was not harmed by being fully discharged (even if dead shorted for years), and overcharging occasionally was actually good for the cell. It was even recommended as a monthly exercise in the battery’s manual!"
Read the full article HERE
