Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by hollerith on Sunday September 10, 2023 @01:55AM (#37453281)

Yeah, I meant figuring out how to do it so efficiently that it becomes preferable to batteries for powering cars. We talk like it is certain that battery-powered cars will win out, but I haven't seen a proof that that is how it must turns out if we learn to create nanomachines that use solar energy to suck carbon from air.

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Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by gibolt on Sunday September 10, 2023 @03:46AM (#37453729)

Unfortunately, physics says battery-powered cars have won.

Using solar to power a process to make a fuel before burning a fuel that at best (way less in reality) uses 2x more energy than just powering an electric motor directly is not sensical.

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Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by hollerith on Sunday September 10, 2023 @09:11AM (#37455509)

And the battery makes the car 1.3 times the weight of a gas-powered car. Making the battery requires much more energy than making a gas tank. The charging infrastructure might prove more expensive than a network of gas stations. Long trips are punctuated by idle periods needed for the battery to charge, so the car's "utilization rate" is lower than a gas-powered car. All I am saying is that it is not 1.00 certain which technology will retain the lowest total cost of ownership as both technologies improve, although yeah battery tech is the likely winner.

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