Seems unlikely that BASF battery engineers have found some new physics that tens of thousands of other engineers have overlooked. The case may be that the best NmH can have energy densities approaching or even exceeding Li batteries, and with greater safety and lower costs, but there will almost certainly be substantial
trade-offs such as shorter service life, lower power density, less shock resistance, restraints on charging regime, etc. An actual ten-fold improvement over L-Ion would truly revolutionize the electric private passenger car. Nearly everyone would want an electric car. All electric range would increase to 300-miles plus. Big Oil and OPEC would be stuck with $10s of trillions stranded in nearly worthless reserves.
No one knows for sure what future oil prices will be, but seems reasonable to
suppose they will settle out somewhere in the $60-$70/bbl range. So gasoline
would be retailing for less than $3/gal. It’s hard to see how even 300-mile
range all electric cars will compete with ICE cars, unless the purchase price
of electrics fall well below gasoline powered cars. But affordable 300-mile
range cars could justify government mandates against ICE cars. They would
present a rational alternative to the highly cost effective gasoline cars.
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