Elon Musk the CEO of Tesla enjoys making bold claims and igniting our interest in
The Cutting Edge Technologies he is developing however the tech Mogul has recently hinted
that nuclear-powered electric vehicles may come next following the Tesla investor day
so let's investigate the viability of this novel Battery Technology further hello everyone welcome
back to Elon Musk Evolution where we bring you the most recent news about Elon Musk and his
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videos there's a growing market for lithium-free batteries made of various and less precious metals
many consider them to be a feasible alternative to the current lithium-ion battery technology which
is criticized for its relatively poor energy storage scale capacity issues with the global
availability of lithium comparatively High pricing and several safety concerns there have been
examples of non-lithium batteries with high energy densities and good economic viability the next few
years should see considerable advancements for this new battery generation which should enable
it to soon realistically compete with commercial Lithium-ion batteries a number of metals have been
suggested as lithium substitutes including zinc magnesium calcium and aluminum moving
beyond lithium Market expansion for Lithium-ion batteries has been and remains to be brisk by 2025
the market which was only 30 billion dollars in 2017 will be projected to have climbed to
100 billion dollars in computers mobile devices and a wide range of other consumer electronics
Lithium-ion batteries are virtually always used over the past few decades these products have
propelled lithium ions growth by being widely used additionally this increase might be attributed
to the instantaneous increase in battery electric car sales and usage which almost exclusively make
use of lithium-ion battery systems on the other hand growing energy storage and transportation
requirements from National Electric grids and Renewable Power projects as well as increased
electrification in all Industries also contribute to the increase in lithium demand but in the
coming years this expansion is probably going to decrease or stop due to a number of disadvantages
associated with lithium-ion batteries these mostly have to do with industrial applications that need
extensive energy storage options in comparison to Alternatives like nickel metal hydride batteries
lithium-based batteries typically have a 40 percent higher manufacturing cost compared
to batteries manufactured of other metals the discharge capacity of Lithium-ion batteries
tends to degrade more quickly this is brought on by corrosion dendrite development and overheating
Lithium-ion batteries also present significant health and safety risks that are connected to
these issues because of a buildup of gases around the electrolyte mobile phone batteries and even
electric car batteries have occasionally burst without warning in addition lithium
is a rather uncommon substance on Earth the sharp price increase for the substance is
already a result of the depletion of lithium stocks in mines all around the world and this
will only become worse as there is less lithium available the hunt for lithium substitutes has
been active in industry and academics for the last few decades as a result of these issues
zinc magnesium calcium and aluminum have all been mentioned as potential lithium substitutes
and they have all been theoretically supported these substances are more prevalent on Earth
and in the case of materials like aluminum are far simpler to recover and recycle from
garbage all of them are widely used in other industrial Fields as well in turn this would
lessen friction in the global supply of energy storage because they are not subject to the
same price fluctuations as lithium compared to lithium the majority of the proposed substitutes
have a lower energy density as a result they may often run at lower temperatures which will extend
their operating lifespan the next generation of lithium-free batteries is made possible by Nano
materials for these alternate metals to be used in batteries on a large scale that is commercially
viable Advanced Nano materials May hold the key because potassium has a standard redox potential
in aqueous electrolytes which enables these batteries to sustain High cell voltages potassium
ion batteries for instance have drawn criticism for this reason the issue with potassium is its
poor electrical conductivity in order to address this problem new electrolytes based on Carbonite
nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes carbon nanofibers carbon zero gel carbon Nano Springs
and carbon Nano rods have been developed the non-aqueous metal air Battery Technology is
arguably the most promising non-lithium Battery Technology that has been put forth so far long
range electric vehicles such trucks and lorries for Logistics May benefit greatly
from this technology these batteries combine a metal Ion with ambient oxygen gas as its cathode
material in comparison to lithium air batteries magnesium air batteries are safer more affordable
and theoretically capable of holding a greater amount of charge magnesium is also a plentiful
resource on Earth however magnesium anodes at the nanoscale and certain organic electrolytes
with remarkable ionic conductivity are needed for magnesium air batteries it has been suggested that
composite Nano material made of graphene and magnesium oxides could produce sufficient
charge and discharge performance to enable these kinds of lithium-free batteries the lithium-free
batteries used in EVs do not however represent the next technological Pinnacle but nuclear batteries
will let's therefore investigate this storied EV battery in more detail although there are
still some challenges to be resolved nuclear energy could be a feasible option for driving
automobiles because it uses very little fuel to provide enormous amounts of electricity
we have all heard that internal combustion engines are going away as a result of the development of
more environmentally friendly technology including electric vehicles but did you know that there has
also been a lengthy history of attempts to create nuclear-powered automobiles although it seems
absurd it is true theoretically thorium is the nuclear fuel that might be used to power cars in
reality Cadillac World thorium fueled concept car was a 2009 project that was recently described by
interesting engineering what is Thorium exactly it is a nuclear fuel similar to uranium that's
substantially less radioactive than most other nuclear fuels on the market it is also far more
plentiful which makes it a possible resource for those looking to create a nuclear-powered
automobile the Cadillac concept automobile powered by thorium made its Premiere as a showpiece at the
2009 Chicago Auto Show however it never really had a nuclear reactor installed and never Advanced to
the stage of actual production Cadillac was not the first automobile manufacturer to consider the
potential of a nuclear-powered car for instance Ford had developed its own nuclear-powered concept
automobile decades ago this Ford automobile known as the nucleon was created in 1958 at the
height of the Cold War War a time when nuclear power was somewhat of a global Obsession the
car would have had a 5 000 mile range if it had ever made it from the drawing board to reality
in the realm of speculative nuclear cars even the nucleon had ancestors as early as 1903 ideas for
the first nuclear automobile were floated in 1941 a researcher from Caltech also suggested
using uranium-235 to power a vehicle Engineers could have abandoned the concept by now given the
numerous nuclear vehicle dreams that have fallen short of becoming a reality surprisingly the
theory still makes sense to hardcore believers who believe it's only a matter of time before we're
all driving Vehicles powered by nuclear fuel the fact is that we most likely do currently possess
the technology required to create reactor cores that are small enough to fit inside of a typical
car the challenge is figuring out how to deal with the thermal energy they generate while producing
mechanical energy and with Elon musk's team we will surely witness this technology very soon the
usage of what is known as an atomic battery has also been proposed as an intriguing idea and as
the benefit that it is now possible to obtain such batteries one use is the powering of spaceships a
real revolution in the car fuel industry would be possible if scientists can figure out how to
use this technology for personal Transportation while safeguarding consumers from radiation risks
why don't we have any vehicles that are powered by nukes the quantity of shielding required to
shelter the public and the passengers of the vehicle from radiation at levels that could
be lethal is one of the primary causes this is a really difficult technical task which
we will look at a little bit more later putting shielding aside nuclear technology has advanced
significantly since the 1950s therefore might we create a nuclear-powered automobile today
interestingly a more recent concept for a nuclear car was presented back in 2009
the Cadillac World thorium fueled concept cars designers claimed that it could possibly run for
more than a century with little to no maintenance the concept automobile made its Premiere at the
2009 Chicago Auto Show but it was merely intended to be a display piece next there was no functional
nuclear reactor given that it is less radioactive and more accessible than other nuclear fuels like
uranium thorium would be a wise choice in reality employing thorium as a fuel is the basis for some
contemporary ideas for micronuclear reactors despite their size these reactors are still
too large to fit into the chassis of a personal vehicle but Charles Stevens a researcher at the
massachusetts-based r d business laser Power Systems is looking into another potential
strategy his idea was to create a laser that could be driven by thorium and he meant no
emissions while producing enough energy to run a car Stevens supposedly succeeded in developing a
prototype system employing a unique high intensity Max for laser laser that is fueled by thorium the
system based on the information that is currently available operates by employing a laser beam to
evaporate water into pressurized steam which turns a turbine and produces power the propulsion Motors
can then be driven by this electricity just like in EV cars Steven's system would be light enough
to fit under the hood of a car weigh around 500 pounds and have a maximum output of 250 kilowatts
or 335 horsepower impressive but the Darth of thorium laser-powered automobiles on the road
tends to indicate that it never really got off but there might be a different strategy let's
explore the concept of an atomic battery could we power a car with atomic batteries instead
of putting a little nuclear reactor inside an automobile we may think a little outside the box
an atomic battery produces a smaller but consistent supply of electricity
by using the gradual decay of radioactive isotopes rather than a chain reaction they
also generate little to no waste and have the potential to utilize nuclear waste as
a fuel source they are referred to as batteries but they are not electrochemical in nature and
cannot be recharged obviously these kinds of batteries can have extraordinarily long life
and very high energy density this technology is a proven technology that already exists
in contrast to the prior concepts for instance they are often used as power sources in spacecraft
this is a great option because Atomic nuclear batteries are extremely strong and have a very
long lifespan but they are not inexpensive either it's interesting to note that several businesses
in the private sector including NDB technology are considering how to advance this technology
their proposed nuclear Nano battery employs reprocessed nuclear waste with numerous layers of
a hard synthetic diamond covering for protection to build very small nuke batteries some of these
batteries might even be manufactured small enough to fit inside tiny electrical devices
like smartphones the company claims because they harness the energy absorbed in the diamond through
inelastic dispersion to generate power according to NDB this incredible piece of technology might
live up to 28 000 years amazingly the best this is great news for any aspirant creator of a nuclear
car if it is ever completely developed these batteries could undoubtedly be produced big
enough to power a whole car if they can be made small enough to fit in something like a phone or
television of course in order to truly enter the market producers would have to overcome the very
substantial disadvantage of the Public's mistrust of nuclear power and perception of its danger such
a development would also be great news for the nuclear industry because it would allow their
waste to be used as a resource by someone else considering that everything even garbage is used
it would also significantly increase industry efficiency governments would be more likely
to support this program since they could donate the garbage to a firm or automaker who needs it
for their product or car saving public money that would otherwise be spent on disposing of the waste
especially the environment benefits from this could nuclear be the holy grail for the EV Market
though the methods mentioned are intriguing the future of nuclear use in automobiles may
look very different instead of attaching nuclear reactors to a car might it be a better solution to
use nuclear to charge EVS instead particularly huge electric vehicles like trucks trucks are
significantly bigger than Automobiles and need a lot more power to move in order to maintain
their speed they use a Duval electric powertrains and trucks is under increasing pressure to make
them more green despite the fact that internal combustion engines have historically shown to
be extremely useful for this a very serious issue exists though electric trucks will require a lot
more power than a little EV vehicle in certain cases electric trucks use five to ten times
as much electricity as an equivalent electric automobile this is the reason why any viable idea
for an all-electric truck would require access to a plentiful supply of power also in order for this
energy to be considered green it must be produced from a clean fuel source rather than a fossil
fuel power plant this is especially relevant for Freight Vehicles which frequently travel great
distances every day of the week while this might theoretically be accomplished by making frequent
pit breaks to top off an onboard battery Freight Vehicles sometimes have to drive to isolated
locations that may or may not have recharging Outlets or if they do exist they might not be
able to accommodate anything as energy hungry as a big truck a micronuclear reactor could be
extremely helpful in this situation as foronuclear explains that the concept of small size nuclear
reactors is not new there have been some small reactors for some time now generating electric
energy in remote areas the Arctic military bases spaceships for years without having to recharge
these designs are the result of over 20 years of research at the United States Department of energy
with mature and proven technologies that guarantee nuclear safety these kinds of micro reactors could
be a godsend for powering EV trucks in reality engineers at the Argonne National Laboratory in
Illinois have been working on an intriguing design for a micronuclear reactor that may potentially be
put at numerous rest areas across the world the amount of electricity required to quickly refuel
something like an 18-wheeler could be produced by these reactors more than adequately classified as
MiFi DC these nuclear reactors could potentially be used to refuel transport vehicles at thousands
of rest stations across a country like the us or possibly the planet a system of energy storage is
attached to each reactor which is around the size of two residential water heaters such reactors
are pretty basic pieces of Kit and could prove to be fairly cheap to build and install unlike other
techniques of energy production they also have some fascinating intrinsic advantages
their adaptability is the first a very reliable electrical supply that is easily adaptable to
demand could be produced by micronuclear reactors for times when electricity is not being drained
from the system heat can be stored in an appended storage site utilizing an inert fluid ready for
use later on the system might use this hot fluid to produce Steam and generate energy
as needed during busy periods at the rest area their intrinsic safety is the additional benefit
which is crucial from a nuclear perspective all of the radio video active material is kept insulated
from any outside contact in these reactors thanks to a unique form of nuclear fuel tri-structural
isotropic pellets which were produced after 60 years of study at the doe National Laboratories
make up the fuel in issue these tiny pellets are made of low enriched uranium and have multiple
layers of carbon and ceramic based components on top of them these barrier layers are what
stop the emission of radioactive fission products compared to Conventional reactor fuels trezo fuels
are structurally far more resilient to high temperatures corrosion oxidation and neutron
radiation every atom serves as a self-contained unit in effect they are able to keep fish in
products in the reactor under any circumstances thanks to this Derek Culkin a senior engineer
in the Nuclear Physics science and engineering department at the Argonne National Laboratory
claims that small reactors using chorizo pellets have a 10-year operating light this is not
inconsequential and might eventually lead to very low charging prices for heavy Vehicles like trucks
make it more affordable or even competitive with fossil fuels if possible the ANL team suggested
that despite the fact that there is still more work to be done this initiative might close the
current Gap in the infrastructure for recharging electric long-haul trucks or 18-wheelers what
possibly could go wrong with nuclear-powered cars meanwhile that ends today's episode what do you
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