WEBVTT - Batteries Are Included 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:07.240 Brought to you by Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome to 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:14.760 Forward Thinking. Hey there, and welcome to Forward Thinking, the 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.400 podcast that looks at the Future says we're gonna rock 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.240 down to Electric Avenue and then we'll take a higher 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:24.520 I'm Jonathan and I'm Joe McCormick. That was a good one, 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.320 Thank you. It was relevant to today because we're going 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.920 to talk about something that has to do with electricity. Yes, 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:35.199 in fact, we're going to talk about batteries and why 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.159 you know, I think in any discussion about the future 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:40.360 and we talk about like the amazing electronics we have 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.760 right now in the present, there's always this discussion that 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:49.960 happens about why aren't batteries better yet? Yeah, people overlook 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.080 the fact that batteries are awesome. They like, they don't 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.840 pay attention to batteries being such an integral part of 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.120 all the technologies we really enjoy. Well, it's really easy 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.400 also to to kind of wench on about how, you know, oh, 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.760 my iPhone only keeps a charge for a day. It 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.679 keeps a charge for a day, it keeps a charge 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.040 at all, Like you can unplug it from the wall 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:16.080 and it still works. Yeah, that's pretty incredible in itself. 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:20.000 I mean, imagine if every electronic device you owned had 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:23.160 to constantly be plugged into the power grid in order 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.520 to work, or have an internal combustion engine or something 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.920 like that. Everything is, everything is either connected by cables 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.200 or has some other form of generating power. But on 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.680 the battery lets us store energy for later use, right, 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:40.960 So you don't have to use all this energy now. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.040 You can use it later if you want. You can 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.319 use in it, use it at different times later on. 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.240 And that that's actually pretty incredible. It it enables all 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.440 kinds of things we don't even take the time to 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.720 think about. That's right. So batteries they share a lot 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.640 in common with another technology, the fuel cell. Fuel cells 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.040 are differ from batteries, and that with fuel cells you 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.520 keep adding fuel into the compartments of the fuel cell 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:08.680 and then you generate electricity. And you have to keep 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:11.079 filling up the fuel cell with fuel in order for 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:15.280 it to continue to generate electricity. Batteries have an electrochemical 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.560 reaction at the heart of them, just like a fuel 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.160 cell does, but everything is contained within the battery itself. Right. 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:23.560 Batteries are, at bottom, I would say, a good way 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.720 to put it, Is there an easy way to get 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:30.280 electricity from chemistry? Yes? Yeah, So you have these chemicals 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.560 that are reacting to produce an excess of electrons, something 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.920 that happens with certain chemical reactions. So you get this 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.600 excess of electrons that are gathering on one side of 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.639 the battery that's the anode side, and then you have 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.560 an electrical difference between the anode side of the battery 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:47.880 and the cathode side of the battery. Right, So if 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.280 you think about a battery with two sides, the anode 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.320 side has all these little minor symbols on it. Yeah, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.800 and those minor symbols, if they could, would really love 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.480 to go to the opposite end of the bat right. 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.600 It's it's almost as if you've got a pipe full 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.080 of water that's tilted way up on one side at 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.560 the an outside and down at the bottom is the 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.880 cathode side, right, and there's something that's blocking the water 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.360 from running down that pipe. So if you were to 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:19.200 create a pathway, a different path that has lot lots 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:23.160 of little curly cues and crazy straw like uh contraptions 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.600 and maybe even a little water wheel in there, but 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.120 it led to that bottom side and you allowed gravity 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:30.320 to do the work. The direct route down to the 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:32.600 bottom would be blocked off, but this other pathway would 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:34.760 be open the water would flow through. That's kind of 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.000 similar to what happens with a circuit. A circuit is 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.600 where you've built a pathway for electrons to move from 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.200 the anode to the cathode, so that you have the 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.560 electrons moving over into that to fill up the holes, 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:50.720 the positive slots on the opposite side of the battery, 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.360 and while they're in motion, you can make them do work, 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.840 turn those little water wheels, the little electron wheels. If 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:58.640 you don't if you don't have anything, if you don't 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.760 have a load attack to the circuit, you're gonna burn 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.120 out that battery really quickly because all all it's doing 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.520 is electrons are just going to rush from one side 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.960 to the other through this pathway. But by putting a 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:10.920 load on there, then the electrons have to do work 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:12.960 along the way. So that might be something as simple 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.480 as lighting an led, or it could be something as 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:20.680 complicated as playing my favorite music on my MP three player, 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.240 because that it's drawing its power from the battery. Here's 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.640 the thing about these electrochemical results, right you know the 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.599 electrochemical reactions. You get these, you get this stuff that 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.280 essentially becomes a NERT. Right, it's no longer able to 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:37.120 produce the electrons needed to continue this reaction. You're essentially 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:41.200 using up the useful chemicals within the battery. They're turning 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.440 into something that is no longer going to generate those electrons. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.480 This is when the battery goes dead, when you've completely 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.400 drained the charge and there's nothing there's not enough there uh, 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.120 not enough active chemicals left within the battery to keep 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.080 it going. So you know, you might have a battery 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.800 like you may have used a flashlight, where it starts 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.039 going dim before it goes out. It's because the battery 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.520 is able to still generate some electricity flow, but not 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.560 enough to continuously power that that bulb. Now, that's if 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.240 you have what's called a primary cell battery or a 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:15.480 single use battery. But there are also batteries called secondary 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:20.039 cell batteries. These are rechargeable batteries. You're essentially reversing the 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:24.120 chemical reaction by reversing the flow of electricity. That's right, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.560 You reverse the polarity. So you just think about it 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.440 working the opposite way. Whereas when the battery is discharging, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.120 you're having electrons flowing out of one end to the 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.080 other and doing work on the way. Uh. To make 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.400 it go back the other way, you put work into 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.159 the battery to force electrons to go back from the 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.159 cathode to the anode. Right now. The issue here is 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.920 that as you do this over and over, you start 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:53.239 to lose some of the active ingredients inside this battery 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.920 and they start degrading. Yeah, so eventually the battery will 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.160 still be dead, or at least will be It will 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.880 store only enough juice for it to be moderately useful, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:05.320 and then you have to replace it with a new 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.960 battery anyway, But it does mean you can reuse the 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.880 same battery multiple times before that actually happens. It's not 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.960 like you know, most batteries have lots of cycles charge 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.599 cycles they can go through before they're they're inactive. But yes, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.520 that that is the major difference. So a primary cell, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.640 once it's used up, that's it. You cannot recharge it. 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.800 You've got to toss it away, especially since most of 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.320 these chemicals when they're done are corrosive and will eventually 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.760 start to eat through the casing of the battery. Itself 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:39.440 and can cause damage to people in property. Well, when 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.839 you think about a battery, it's kind of amazing that 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.360 they're as safe as they are because what is a battery. Well, 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.840 it's a huge amount of potential energy stored up into 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.080 a tight little space. Yeah. Yeah, you've got to essentially 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:56.280 was amounts to a paste that can create this this 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.320 chemical reaction. Although this is why, i mean, one of 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.840 the reasons why you don't generally want to apply say 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:05.120 fire to batteries. Oh yeah, and why sometimes batteries can 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.800 catch on fire. Sure, yeah, yeah. There's also issue with 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.800 other basic things in electronics, Like you've probably heard the 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.480 term resistance. Uh, generally, we we talked about resistance in 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.360 the way that that something will start to generate heat 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.800 because there's there's not a perfect path for the electrons 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.440 to flow through. There's going to be some energy lost 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.040 in the form of heat. And uh, if you're charging 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.680 a a secondary cell battery for too long, or if 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.280 you have placed a rechargeable battery in the wrong type 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:38.280 of charger, then you can overcharge one of those batteries 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.280 and you end up generating a lot of resistance and 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.320 damaging the battery in the process. Which could result in 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:48.720 something as catastrophic as a fire, or it could just 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.920 significantly decrease the useful life of that rechargeable battery. Either way, 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.920 it's a negative outcome. This one is obviously way more 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.320 negative than the other one. But yeah, that's an issue. Okay, 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.000 So let's talk about what are the main ways of 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.560 making batteries today. But main oh you mean like the 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.640 different types. Yeah, sure, okay, So we got alkaline cell. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.720 Those are the probably the those are the most common. Yeah, 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.320 if you go out to the store and buy you 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.360 some double A batteries to probably alkaline cell. If it 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.000 if it doesn't say rechargeable on them, then they are 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:24.800 most likely alkaline batteries. There are also lithium non rechargeable 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.720 batteries those those do exist too, so those are also 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.000 primary cell batteries. But uh, you know, if it in general, 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.400 you're gonna see alkaline ones which are using sodium hydroxide 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:38.200 or potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and like we said, 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:42.000 not rechargeable. They produce about one point five four volts 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.960 and the chemicals created as the battery produces electricity are corrosive. 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.839 These are the ones that are gonna eat through that 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.439 zinc case eventually and possibly cause damage. They have to 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.520 be really careful when when you get rid of them. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.439 They are the most widely used batteries in the world. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.400 They're inexpensive relatively speaking. I know that anyone who has 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:05.040 gone to a convenience store because they desperately needed to 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.079 get those double A batteries for something or or mine 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:09.959 is always getting like the nine volt battery for the 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.320 smoke detector. When I realized that, oh it's beeping, I 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:13.480 need to go out and get a battery in the 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.320 closest place is this is this convenience store, then it 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.319 feels like it's the most expensive thing I've ever seen 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.640 in my life. But in general, they're They're much more 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:26.360 practical and cheap than say, the chargeable batteries often are okay. 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.760 But let's say you go to traffic court and you 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.760 do what they actually tell you to do, but nobody does, 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.240 which is take the battery out of your cell phone. 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.360 What's in that battery? Ah, So those are lithium ion batteries. 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.040 These are the batteries that okay, so weill. Alkaline batteries 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.960 are technically the most popular batteries in the world. The 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.640 ones that people are having more and more experience with 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.960 these days tend to be in the lithium ion side 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:51.000 because it would be a huge pain in the butt 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.400 to have to change out the double as in your 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.679 cell phone. Yeah, not that there aren't phones out there 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:58.480 that do that kind of thing. Certainly, you know you 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.559 need a good burner phone then, obviously. But now lithium 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.880 ion batteries are rechargeable. They are UM. They are often 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.679 found in things like computers and electronics UM as well 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.080 as other places. They store about hundred fifty what hours 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:16.040 per kilograms, so their energy density is pretty good, especially 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.199 compared to some of the other batteries. Lithium ion are 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.000 sort of the primo consumer rechargeable batteries these days. Yeah, 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:26.079 there there are some people would say this is the 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.160 barrier that's holding us back. Right the lithium ion is 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.120 as good as we can do right now. But there 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.199 are people who are working on creating better battery technologies 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:36.360 in the future, and we're going to talk a lot 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.600 about those in just a little bit. But right now, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.840 lithium I on I mean, that's when you look at 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:42.760 the different kinds of batteries that are out there, and 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.520 the energy density energy densities. Really we're talking about how 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.920 much energy is packed in per unit of weight, and 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.199 when it comes to packing a punch, lithium ion has 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.959 one of the bigger punches in the game. Yeah. Even then, 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.160 it's typically described in terms of a few hundred watt 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.280 hours per legram. Yeah, you're not. We're not at a 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.160 point where it's equivalent to say, the amount of power 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.040 you would generate from an internal combustion engine with a car. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.200 But but the voltage isn't bad for these guys compared 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.400 to the size of those alkaline batteries. We're talking like 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:19.520 four volts here. So, uh, that's for for a regular 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.280 lithium ion cell. Okay, But let's say I pop open 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.080 the hood of my old car, my old, rusty, beat 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.080 up car, and look at the battery in there. What 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.080 is it? Probably that's more than likely than not a 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.080 lead acid battery. So that we're not talking about electric 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:38.240 vehicles or hybrid vehicles necessarily here, but in your classic 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.400 internal combustion engine that needs to have a battery so 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.720 that it can fire off the spark plugs and and 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:47.160 also operate all the cabin electronics. That kind of stuff. 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.480 You're talking about a lead acid battery. These do not 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.600 have a very good energy density. No, not at all 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.880 hours per kilogram. Compare that back to the lithium ion. 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.520 It's just not doesn't pack a huge wallum. No, What 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.720 these things are really good at is hanging out and 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.680 then giving you a big jolt right when you need it. Yeah, 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.240 and a last a really long time, and you know 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.120 it's it's another one of those things where if you 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:14.640 start to run out of juice, you really need to 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:16.240 go and get a new battery. You're not going to 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.760 be recharging these like I'm sure most of us have 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.760 been a situation either where we had to get a 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.120 jump start from someone or we helped someone else get 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.560 a jump start from our vehicles. So usually that means 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:29.880 you just give it enough electricity for the vehicle to 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:31.400 to start up so you can get it to the 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.920 closest place where you can get a replacement battery. But yeah, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.800 lead acid, and you know it's pretty much what sounds like. 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.680 You've got some electrodes made out of lead and you've 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.920 got sulfuric acid as a as a component. So this 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.200 is also a battery you do not want to bust 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.480 open Um, it's got calastic material and don't give it 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.760 to your baby to play with. No, this is dangerous stuff. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.240 After that, you've also got nickel based batteries, don't you 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.640 like You used to have nickel cadmium a lot. Now 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.840 you've got nickel metal hydra yep. And these are often 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.240 used in hybrid vehicles. They use rare earth materials. We 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.040 talked a lot about that in our last episode about 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.880 solar powered vehicles, the idea of rare earth elements and 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.640 why that's such a big issue in electronics. Uh, it's 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.240 a big issue with batteries as well. There are a 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.400 lot of different batteries that are reliant upon some form 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.800 of rare earth element in as part of the components. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.040 They also combine these rare earth elements with some some 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.560 stuff that's a lot more common, like nickel being a 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:33.440 big one, aluminum, cobalt, other stuff as well. They store 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.040 about a hundred wide hours per kilogram, so again not 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.880 as energy dense as lithium ion, but much more so 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.120 than say lead acid. And they also are rechargeable, so 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.960 you can just uh buy these there. There are several 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.840 that are in the same kind of style as alkaline batteries. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.040 So most of the time, when you see a rechargeable 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.440 battery that's like a double a rechargeable battery ends up 0:13:56.440 --> 0:14:00.520 being a nickel metal h hydride. So those are your 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.960 basic types. I mean there are others as well. Of course, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:07.040 we didn't even go into the historic batteries like voltaic 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.679 piles and all that kind of stuff, which is fascinating. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.320 You don't really use those to power a laptop. Might 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.240 you might you might use it as a science fair project, 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:19.480 right to build to build your own homemade battery, But yeah, 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:21.720 it's not something that's going to be used in any 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:26.120 real capacity for modern conveniences or anything like that. Okay, well, 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:30.520 let's talk about the problems that exist with the batteries 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.520 we have today and how could batteries be improved for 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:38.040 future uses. So that energy density thing, yeah, that's a 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.680 big one. That's a big limiting factor. It's big, especially 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:44.360 for say like hybrid or electric vehicles. Sure. Yeah, if 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.640 you you know, one of the complaints a lot of 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:48.760 people had, or at least one of the things like 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:52.440 a misgiving people have about electric vehicles is this idea 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.080 of I don't want to be driving this vehicle and 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.320 then run out of charge and then be stranded somewhere. Uh. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.640 And then even if I'm someplace where I can plug in, 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.960 I'm stuck there for hours on end until I get 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.080 a full charge. Never mind the fact that most of 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:10.000 us drive well below the driving range of one of 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.760 these electrical vehicles in our day to day activities. So 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.400 if you're talking about using an electric vehicle for just 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.680 your daily driving, like you know, you're driving around from 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.360 to and from work, that kind of stuff, generally speaking, 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.440 you're pretty much okay because you can just recharge at 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:26.960 night and you're fine. It's when you're when you're want 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.360 to go on an extended trip then it might become 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.480 more of a concern. I think. Also, most people who 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.040 have who have driven a gas engine car have at 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.000 some point run out of gas because they really thought 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.080 that they should go to Starbucks first before they hit 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.200 the gas station. He doesn't, He doesn't mean empty, E 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.320 means enough. Yeah, nobody who used to say that until 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.160 you had to call Triple Aid help him out too 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.320 many times? One too many times? Yeah. Um. So yeah. 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.480 Here's the thing though, with energy densities, there's only so 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:00.320 much we can do because unlike microprocessors, you know, you 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.560 know More's law, this idea that within every two years 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.880 or so, the power of microprocessors doubles because we are 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.800 able to cram more discrete components onto these these chips 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.120 were able to manaturize. That doesn't apply to batteries because 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:20.280 we're talking about chemical reactions, not some sort of electronic circuitry. 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.520 So we can make electronics more efficient so they sip 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.680 less power, but we can't, you know, just make a 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.960 magical maturization machine for batteries and get the same kind 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.080 of advances that we've seen on the electronic side. Although 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:37.360 certainly different chemicals are more efficient at creating these reactions, 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.800 so we can't. We can't make chemicals. We can't make 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.360 these same chemicals better at what they do necessarily, but 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.080 we can experiment with different chemicals and different approaches to 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:51.680 making these chemicals and and exploiting different physical properties of 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.240 materials to make better batteries. In any case, it's going 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.160 to be really hard to create a battery that comes 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.840 close to compete eating with the energy density of gasoline. Yes, um, 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:07.120 that's one of the main appeals of gasoline today. I mean, 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.680 it's it's cheap and it's got great energy density. So 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.440 the energy density of gasoline is something like twelve thousand 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.280 or thirteen thousand watt hours per kilogram. Compare that to 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.960 the lithium ion batteries, which store, as we said, like 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.440 a hundred and fifty or maybe a few hundred watt 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.520 hours per kilogram. So it's a huge difference. If you're 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.439 trying to make electric cars an attractive proposition, increasing the 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.800 energy density of electric batteries is huge. What you end 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.080 up with is this large, extremely heavy brick in your 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.280 car that won't let you drive as far as the 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.160 tank of gasoline. Now, as you've said, that's exactly it's 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:49.800 exactly right that people have misconceptions about the range anxiety 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.200 of electric cars. Well, there's also there's also the issue 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.800 that you're talking about twelve thousand and thirteen thousand watt 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.320 hours per kilogram energy density of gasoline, but an internal 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.760 combustion in and is not as as efficient as an 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.520 electric motor. That's exactly right. So a lot of that 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:09.080 energy is lost as heat in an internal combustion engine. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.359 But still that difference is gigantic, and we'll talk about 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.760 some ways that energy density gap might be closed by 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.360 different battery designs. But we've still got a lot more 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.800 problems that batteries have that we have to contend with. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.920 Some depending upon what approach we use, some of these 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.879 are bigger concerns than others. Some batteries are more prone 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:29.600 to some of these problems than others. So one of 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:33.359 them is the self discharge problem. So this is where 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:35.439 you've taken a battery of the package, you put it 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.560 into some form of electronics, and it starts to essentially 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:44.320 leak electricity. It's it's it's leaking its effectiveness, and depending 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.640 upon the type of battery, that could be significant. We're 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:52.240 talking like up to in the first day losing the charge, 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.160 so it goes from a charge to eighty percent charge. 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.159 You haven't even turned anything on, You've just plugged the 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:01.040 battery in and let sit just from the circuit being completed. Now, 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.560 not all of them are are prone to this. Nickel 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:08.600 metal hydride are particularly vulnerable to self discharge, but not 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.919 everything is. And if you if you are storing stuff 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:16.000 in a cool not cold, but a cool environment, then 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.600 you you slow this down because we're talking about chemical reactions. 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.080 Chemical reactions tend to happen faster when you apply heat, 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.159 and they tend to be slower when you take heat away. 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.240 But you don't want to put batteries in the fridge 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.159 or freezer because then you just slow it down so 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:33.840 much that it's going to take you forever for the 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.160 juice to start flowing when you actually want to use 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.440 the batteries. I've heard this myth before that you should 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:41.240 put batteries in the freezer to prolong their life. Apparently 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:44.520 that is not true. In fact, the battery manufacturers have 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.200 facts on their website telling you not to do this 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.359 because it actually doesn't improve it. And in fact, if 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.159 you put a battery in the freezer, they say that 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.679 the condensation that forms on it could cause damage to 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.600 the batteries and in fact cut down on its its 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.760 life well. And when you see with electric vehicle producers, 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:03.800 one of the things they talk about is testing the 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:08.240 electrical vehicles in uh in cold environments because there's this 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.880 concern that the cold weather would retard the function of 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.440 the battery, so you wouldn't get your vehicle started when 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:16.080 you would want to. So let's say you're heading out 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.200 the door to go to work and you have to wait, 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:19.880 you know, a half hour for the car to warm 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.520 up enough to be able to drive it. That would 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:26.040 be another example. Then you have the memory effect. This 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.880 is when you recharge a device, and each time you're 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.800 recharging it, it's not quite going all the way back 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:36.920 to percent normally because you have the old rechargeable batteries 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.080 really had this problem where let's say I've got my 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.360 cell phone and I plug it in and I let 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.320 it charge up to and I think that's good enough. 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:47.840 I need my phone. I'm going on the way way, 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:49.800 and I unplugged it and I go on, I'm married 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:51.840 a little way. The next time I plug in my 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.520 cell phone, it charges up, but now the new one 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:58.919 is just the percent of what it's original full capacity was, 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:01.960 So it gets up eighty percent of its original full capacity, 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:06.320 and that's the stops. Yeah, I don't I don't have 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:09.199 access to that extra power. So now I'm saying, you know, 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.440