We wrote about the EV battery tech and concept car from Switzerland in 2014. A million dollar EV car that can run on salt water. This is about as opposite as you can get to the million dollar gold-plated Mercedes from Abu Dhabi. The thing is that the Swiss are usually making good on their EV promises: Remember the Swiss venture, the solar powered EV airplane the Solar Impulse that circled the globe? They did it. Or the Swiss-made ZeroTracer? The Swiss make good things and the world knows it.
That’s why we paid attention then and again now that progress has been made on developing the original Quant Nanoflow into Quantino, a roadster. The Swiss company behind the salt battery tech is Nanoflowcell and they are showing off models of their all-electric cars at least on their website and in PR videos they add to Youtube.
Like the original Quant luxury car prototype we covered, the Quantino runs on a special kind of non-toxic saltwater mixture that the company calls bi-ION electrolyte.
Is a car that runs on salt an electric car?
Yes. A car that runs on salt is an electric car. To be technical, salt water is used as the storage medium but it’s not the fuel. The car runs by electrically charging ionic liquid – salt water – to store energy.
According to company materials, the 2+2 Quantino Roadster is the first fully electric car which runs entirely without a battery: “In the course of the development, a decision was made to forego using a lithium-ion starter battery given concerns regarding the environmental balance. Lithium mining causes problems. Read here about why the Serbs are revolting against Rio Tinto.
“Instead, a compact electrolytic capacitor is integrated into the electric vehicle’s starter system,” the company states.
During the starting process, this powers up the nanoFlowcell 48VOLT electric drive. Once started, the nanoFlowcell supplies the energy to four 60 kW low-voltage electric motors and the consumers in the 48-volts vehicle network.
Offering 600 miles on one tank, makes it a fill ’em EV that will remove range worry and stress for current EV lovers. But the company is still not offering a lot of details on when consumers can start buying. Maybe they are building industry partnerships like the all-electric passenger plane, the Alice, by Eviation, which now has $2 Billion USD in pre-orders lined up. It takes millions, even billions, to build a great EV from top to bottom. Even mega companies like GM and Ford shows us that no-one in the industry, except for maybe Tesla, goes it alone.
What we know about Nanoflowcell so far:
Nanoflowcell Holdings is a Swiss flow cell battery research and development company that claims to have developed the first flow battery small enough to be used in electric cars. Its battery, also branded nanoFlowcell, was first presented in the Quant E, Quant F and Quantino prototype vehicles.
The company was founded in 1996 and like drug makers doesn’t seem to be in any rush to release a product to the market. Slow and steady wins the race?
The Swiss Elon Musk who sings?
Key people at Nanoflowtech include Nunzio La Vecchia, company CEO and Hektor Bertschi, the COO. It is a privately held company based in Kilchberg, Switzerland.
La Vecchia states on Twitter: “I am often asked why I’m not selling our technologies to the highest bidder and enjoy life. When you see #QUANTCity and learn more about our objectives, you will understand that we don’t work for the quick money, but that we are on a mission.”
Nunzio appears signing in this video and has music on Spotify.
Quant City aims to be an AI-run development hub for developing EV technology. It appears to be merely aspirational at this point, and its vision presented in the video:
Quant City “provides space for experimentation; it is a kind of experimental playground for innovation research in the fields of energy technologies and AI applications. In addition to discovering new technologies, we also evaluate their impact on society, the environment and the economy – always with an eye on future generations,” press materials explore.
Alternatives to Tesla in the Middle East
Other developments on our minds these days is the Ceer EV from Saudi Arabia. Lucid Motors, a joint EV between China, Saudi Arabia and the United States developers. Also from the Middle East area is Turkey’s Togg EV and Mays Motors from Oman.
Israel’s Better Place tried to reinvent the EV battery and the way cars are charged, rather replaced to quickly extend range, but failed after consumers didn’t love the price point or the unflashy Renault body offered to them. This is after about $1B USD of investments. You can see dusty charge point stations and battery swap stations littered throughout Israel.
