Saline solution for sustainable transport
Is the Quant prototype supercar a pointer for future electric vehicles?The salt water-powered Quant e-Sport limousine that was unveiled at the Geneva motor show this year seems like the concrete realisation of a long-held fantasy.
Using "nano flow cell" technology, which is described as a combination of an electrochemical accumulator with a fuel cell, it is said to be roughly similar in concept to a conventional lead-acid battery, but with an energy density of 600Wh/kg, or five times greater than a conventional flow cell.
The salt water is not your average brew from Bass Strait, though: It's an electrolytic fluid made up of metallic salts in an aqueous solution contained in storage tanks.
Oxidation and reduction processes occur in parallel, with the electrolytic fluids pumped from the storage tanks through the cell to form a kind of battery cell with the cross-flow of electrolyte liquid.
According to the developers, the larger the storage tanks, the greater the energy capacity, and the denser the electrolytic solution, the more energy stored.
The nano flow cell system continuously sends electrical energy to two large "supercap" capacitors where it is stored and used to power four three-phase 170kW electric induction motors.
In the $1.7 million Quant, this equates to an output of 680kW and a zero to 100km/h acceleration time of 2.8 seconds with – get this – a range of 400 to 600km on one charge.
Redox flow batteries were originally developed and patented in 1976 by NASA for energy storage on space flights. Since the expiry of the patents, the concept has been adopted in more recent times for applications such as electricity storage in solar and wind-generated energy systems.
The system was developed by Lichtenstein-based research and development group nano Flow Cell AG, specifically for the prototype Quant supercar. It has been approved by the German certification group TUV Sud for use on public roads in Germany and France. Vehicle approval regulations for the concept are yet to be completed.
Don't hold your breath waiting for one of these to appear at your local supermarket though.
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