Steve, thanks for bringing up Edison Cells (NiFe)
They seem better suited for home/land based battery banks.
From what I,ve read they are heavier and more bulky than LA.
They also have a high self discharge rate.
They were very common once in fork lifts.
A man named John Lorenzen made a habit of collecting them for years
and has some that are over 80 years old and still going strong.
Go to the Mother Earth News site and search under John Lorenzen.
Very interesting man.
NiFe are expensive as you say. www.BeUtilityFree.com sells them.
There seems to be several patents for improved NiFe batteries.
One such example was used in an electric Dodge Caravan. That battery pack was lighter and more compact than what is available from BeUtilityFree. I almost bought a used Electric Caravan but the van squeeled worst than a stuck pig(cooling fans noise). Just couldn't swing for the $12,000 just to see if the batteries were worth it.
Yes a person could make their own NiFe batteries, here is a link that describes what is involved. It is unlikely that homemade batteries would be as efficient as the manufactured ones however.
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/edison-batteries-25958p3.html
It is a real shame that the Edison Battery company was bought up and the edison cell discontinued. I feel that there is potential for a great long lived power source for electric vehicles. It doesn't fit into the planned obselesence of modern manufacturing and is probably what did it in more than the minor draw backs of its 100 year old technology.
I realize you may already know most of all this but others here may
not and I would like to see a resurgence of interest in NiFe.
It needs further development and should not be fogotten.
Thank you all for the great posts on this forum. It's all good.
Don Parsons
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Steve Spence <steve@...> wrote:
>
> You could try making your own Nickel Iron (NiFe) batteries. 100 + year
> life, just change out the electrolyte every 10 years or so. Cant hurt
> them with over or under charge. They are availab;le from 2 sources that
> I'm aware of, but very pricey. can go to 80% discharge or more.
>
> Steve Spence
> Renewable energy and self sufficiency
> http://www.green-trust.org
> http://arduinotronics.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
> On 09/10/2010 01:03 PM, geoff gamsby wrote:
> >
> >
> > That is a good question. I am guessing the life of lithium is more like
> > 10-15 years. the big advantages to lithium are weight & size savings.
> > Also faster charge times & less self discharge. The faster charge time
> > comes in handy if you charge from a generator, you can achieve a full
> > charge much quicker saving fuel.
> >
> >
> > In my option the lithium are cheaper in the long run, but i haven't been
> > able to find much data to support their life span.
> >
> >
> > */geoff gamsby/*
> > www.straightturn.net <http://www.straightturn.net>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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