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Re:Gravity batteries try to beat chemical ones with winches,... by alexchamberlain on Saturday April 24, 2021 @02:57AM (#26922845)
Their marketing has the LCOS of those 2 solutions the other way around - $171 for Gravity, $367 for Litium Ion batteries.

See https://gravitricity.com/technology/

Re:Gravity batteries try to beat chemical ones with winches,... by PeterisP on Saturday April 24, 2021 @05:33AM (#26923572)
Too bad they don't seem to provide the actual report anywhere (and neither does ICL), they just quote a single chart from that without any details. This feels fishy to me - I'd want to look into the cost basis they used, as a key problem with comparisons against batteries is that the battery cost has changed so much over the recent years (halving every 5 years or so), and many studies quote their battery price calculations on older reports that are now off by a large multiple.

$367 of LI batteries at year X is $171 of LI batteries at year X+5 and $86 at year X+10, so it's important to look at what the X is in their study. And of course, we should consider that chemical battery costs are expected to decrease in the near future, while the cost well-established mechanical components would stay stable.

Re:Gravity batteries try to beat chemical ones with winches,... by alexchamberlain on Saturday April 24, 2021 @09:46AM (#26924795)
Whilst I agree the components of a mechanical battery are probably going to stay stable, I think Gravitricity have an opportunity to commoditise the design and install near sporadic renewables like wind.

Bias: I participated in their crowdfunding campaign.