Performance Data from an Improved Sodium/Nickel Chloride Cell

Sodium nickel chloride batteries have been tested in electric cars over the past three years. Although the performance of the cars was satisfactory, reliability was inadequate and it became apparent that the cells needed to tolerate repeated discharges to 100% depth of discharge. A new cell design with an improved sodium electrode was developed and tests with 26 Volt modules of these cells have shown that it will tolerate hundreds of cycles to 100% depth of discharge. The capacity and resistance stability of the new cell design are described and the feasibility of rapid charging is discussed.