I know salt water batteries are less efficient than lithium-ion, but water is safer, can be found anywhere, is cheap and 100% ecological. Even if it doesn't last long, you can refill anywhere. Why can't salt water batteries be used to power electric cars?
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$\begingroup$ My guess is that energy density is too low. $\endgroup$– my2ctsCommented Nov 10, 2019 at 10:45
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$\begingroup$ Is salt water lighter than lithium? $\endgroup$– SteevenCommented Nov 10, 2019 at 12:41
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1 Answer
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Water has one major setback: It is chemically stable only up to a voltage of 1.22 volts. This means that a water cell supplies three times less voltage than a customary lithium ion cell with 3.7 volts, which makes it poorly suited for applications in electric cars. However, water-based batteries, could be interesting for stationary electricity storage applications.
Secondly it is not true that water is lighter; Lithium is the least dense of all the metals, it has a density nearly half that of water $0.534 g/cm^3$.
