--- title: "Bold New Idea: Recharge Electric Cars by Filling Them at the Pump" description: "Certain electric vehicle advocates are excited about so-called \"refillable batteries\": lithium ion cells which can be refilled with charged electrolyte." date: "2019-02-24" modified: "2019-02-24" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/refillable-batteries-could-revolutionize-electric-cars" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "batteries" - "electric vehicles" - "flow batteries" - "the digest" --- # Bold New Idea: Recharge Electric Cars by Filling Them at the Pump ![Certain electric vehicle advocates are excited about so-called "refillable batteries": lithium ion cells which can be refilled with charged electrolyte.]() *\Image: Joost Markerink/jeffreyd00/Emily Cho\* ## Refillable Batteries Electric cars are great — until you run down the battery and have to stop and charge them for a few hours. That's why, [according to]() *NBC News,* certain electric vehicle advocates are extremely excited about so-called "refillable batteries" — lithium ion cells which, when the electrolyte that powers them gets depleted, can be refilled with freshly-charged liquid instead of getting charged in-situ. The result: an electric car that can be refilled at a pump. ## Fill 'Er Up Some proponents of the technology, which is technically called a "flow battery," have even suggested that existing filling stations could be retrofitted to charge, dispense and accept electrolyte instead of gasoline. "You drive 300 miles, drain your tank and pump in new \[liquid\] — as long as it would take to fill your car with gasoline — and drive off," said John Cushman, a researcher at Purdue who's working on liquid battery technology, in an interview with *NBC*. ## Consumer Momentum There are still major technical hurdles to overcome before flow batteries are practical, experts cautioned *NBC*. And another factor, strangely, might be the consumer momentum around the idea that an electric car is something you can drive home and charge yourself. "If it means going back to the typical fuel supplier and maintenance paradigm, it’s going to be a tougher sell than ‘plug in at home’ traditional EVs," Scott Greene, an electric transportation advocate in Chicago, told *NBC*. **READ MORE:** [New refillable batteries could fuel an electric car revolution]() \[*NBC News*\] ***More on electric cars:** [Electric Cars May Be Cheaper Than Gas Guzzlers in 7 Years — If People Actually Buy Them]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()