LABORATORY-SCALE EVALUATION OF SECONDARY ALKALINE ZINC BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Two types of secondary zinc cell have been evaluated in our laboratory to assess their suitability to power an electric van. Single cells were charged and discharged with constant-current cycles as well as with controlled-power discharge profiles, scaled to the predicted mass of a full-size battery. Both cells were able to meet the requirements for power discharge specified by the so-called Simplified Federal Urban Driving Schedule (SFUDS) early in life (the first 15 cycles). The Zn/air cell achieved an average of 72 SFUDS repetions (7.2 h) per discharge. The Zn/NiOOH cell achieved an average of 51 SFUDS repetitions (5.1 h) per discharge. The bifunctional air electrodes did not reach oxygen-evolution potentials during the 8-s regenerative breaking portions of the SFUDS cycle.