By Andrew Spence

A new battery technology that could significantly reduce the price of electric cars and home battery systems has taken a major step towards commercialisation.

Electric vehicles such as the ZED70 – the first electric ute engineered in Australia – could benefit from the cheaper zinc manganese batteries. Picture: David Karaduman.

South Australian researchers from the University of Adelaide have secured an A$1 million research contract with a Chinese battery manufacturer to develop the new technology and bring it to market within 12 months.

The patented design uses non-toxic zinc and manganese, two metals that are abundant in Australia, and incombustible aqueous electrolyte to produce a battery with a high-energy-density.

The researchers estimate the cost of this new electrolytic Zn–Mn battery to be less than US$ 10 per kWh compared with US$ 300 per kWh for current Li-ion batteries, US$ 72 per kWh for Ni–Fe batteries and…