Liquid battery could refuel EVs in seconds

A liquid battery which could charge electric vehicles in seconds has been developed by Scottish scientists.

A prototype system using a metal oxide dubbed “exotic rust”, which is able to be electrically charged when added to water, has come from a University of Glasgow team.

It’s expected to revolutionise EV travel with drivers eventually using filling stations to recharge, the BBC reports.

Research team member professor Lee Cronin says the liquid battery could hold the key to making EVs a more viable option to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

EVs can take hours to charge enough for longer journeys, although in some cases with high-power charging that’s now dropping to minutes.

“This will overcome a big kind of cultural inertia – you can get instant refuel in the same way, with no change to your behaviour now,” Cronin told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland

programme.

“Because it’s a liquid it would just work as normal using the same infrastructure.

“It will certainly be a game changer if we can make sure that the prototype scales as we expect.”

Drivers would remove the spent “rust” liquid using a withdrawal nozzle at the pump, then use the pump’s second nozzle to refill the battery with fresh liquid.

The Glasgow team says the liquid would provide the same range as fossil fuel.

Cronin says the liquid battery’s capacity is higher and it does not age like current electric systems.

The technology could also be used for domestic energy supplies.

The research is funded by the University of Glasgow, the European Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.