Suche
Mein Konto
The miracle battery from Austria
AIT is researching a battery that will give electric mobility a boost. With a magnesium anode, the power storage device becomes significantly cheaper and more powerful than conventional lithium-ion batteries. The KFZ Wirtschaft asked the researchers for an interview.
The miracle battery from Austria
Automotive industry: Ms. Trifonova, you head battery research at the Austrian Institute of Technology. What alternatives do you see in the future to conventional lithium-ion batteries like those used in most electric vehicles today?
Atanaska Trifonova: At AIT we are researching a 3-volt magnesium-ion battery. This is significantly lighter than a lithium-ion battery, and its magnesium anode only costs about a 24th of that of a lithium anode. Theoretically, this battery can also achieve twice the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries. Since Austria is rich in magnesium deposits and the know-how to process and recycle them, a market-ready magnesium battery is a great opportunity for the country's economy. In addition, magnesium is much more environmentally friendly than lithium.
How long will it take until it is ready for the market?
Atanaska Trifonova: We are developing the components of this battery at the AIT in Vienna together with the LKR light metal competence center in Ranshofen. It will still take a little over ten years from the basic research we are currently in, through to the market readiness of the technology and vehicle integration.
Mr. Oberguggenberger, you head the Electric Drive Technologies Department at AIT. Does e-mobility really need another ten years to make significant progress?
Helmut Oberguggenberger: At AIT, in parallel to battery development, we are also working on efficiency-increasing measures that will bear fruit much more quickly. Among other things, we are optimizing the air conditioning of the electric vehicles, which currently consumes about as much energy as the drive at 50 km/h. With measures such as optimizing the pipeline routes or more efficient heat radiation via heated varnish surfaces, we have already managed to halve this energy expenditure, which of course benefits the vehicle's range.
How can efficiency be further optimized?
Helmut Oberguggenberger: There is also still a potential of around 10 percent in the coordination of the power electronics with the electric machine, which we will exploit with newly developed controller algorithms. Lightweight construction is also an important topic that is being intensively developed further at the LKR Ranshofen.
Production of lithium-ion batteries has fully begun in Asia and prices are falling rapidly. How can Europe keep up?
Atanaska Trifonova: Asia began mass production of lithium-ion batteries for portable devices and electronics much earlier and only needs to adapt existing systems for larger power storage systems. However, when it comes to research into pioneering post-lithium batteries, Europe is clearly ahead.