The average-priced ELECTRIC car that can travel more than 200 miles WITHOUT charge

Cella managing director Prof Stephen Bennington (left) with employee

A BRITISH company has developed a revolutionary new battery that will allow average-priced electric cars to travel more than 200 miles without a charge.

 

Cella Energy made the major breakthrough with hydrogen fuel cells despite the idea being abandoned by the US Government in 2008.

It means a family will be able to drive from London to North Yorkshire on a single charge. 

The firm, which employs just 20 people from its headquarters in Oxfordshire and has a laboratory at Nasa’s Space Centre in Florida, has already developed the new type of battery to allow medium-sized Aerial Unmanned Vehicles to triple the time they can spend in the air.

It has secured a contract with the Israeli Defence Forces to supply the special batteries for use with medium sized surveillance drones. 

Last night Cella, which is being partly funded by the British government to research automotive projects, confirmed that civilian and “blue light” were also looking into how they could use the technology.

Speaking to the Sunday Express last night Prof Stephen Bennington, Cella’s managing director, said: “We make a solid-state gas generator that provides clean hydrogen which you can feed into a small pure fuel cell and drop in as a battery replacement. That has huge implications.

“While at the moment the use of drones in civilian airspace is extremely limited, we predict laws will change once drones adopt sense and avoid technology to avoid midair collisions.

 “Our hydrogen fuel cells would be ideal for Coastguard services using drones in search and rescue missions, police forces, border agencies and even oil companies laying pipeline.”

Civil airliners and private jet operators will also be able to save million every year by using the battery instead of more expensive aviation fuel to power taxing aircraft while on the ground.

 

Professor Stephen Bennington

We make a solid-state gas generator that provides clean hydrogen which you can feed into a small pure fuel cell and drop in as a battery replacement. That has huge implications       

Stephen Bennington, managing director of Cella

The energy is created when a hydrogen pellet – which can be the size of a marble – is heated up to 120 degrees.

An electric control system then creates a continuous flow of hydrogen which is filtered into a fuel cell.

The system is a third the weight of a lithium battery, and the smallest batteries weigh 1kg.  

Prof Bennington, who is also a professor of nanotechnology, added: “And, of course, this technology will finally give electric cars the range they need to be practical. 

“Hydrogen fuel cells would allow an electric car to reach a range of, say, 210 miles which would mean you could take a proper trip to visit relatives in a reasonably priced electric car just by replacing the battery.”