VIEWS on BATTERY NEWS: The worlds largest battery still running strong, but it won't be the largest for long. World's largest charging and swapping network breaks ground.

There have been a number of new utility sized grid batteries that have come online in the world in the last few years. But the largest grid battery was built 13 years ago.

It's still going strong. Obviously, it doesn't use lithium technology since that technology wasn't around for grid batteries back then. It uses NiCd chemistry.

NiCd batteries may very well be the most robust battery type available, even today. LiFePO4 might take that crown in time, but looking at the performance of this very large battery it might not. NiCd might not have the energy density of Lithium chemistries, but that doesn't matter much for a battery that weighs in at 1500 tons.

What does matter a lot is cost. And lithium chemistries are benefiting from economies of scale. Already we are seeing sub-$200 prices per kWh. NiCd cells are more than $300 per kWh.

So the next 'world's biggest battery' will be made with a lithium chemistry. It's going to be built in Los Angeles.

I'm going to bet that it will be a much shorter time than 13 years before the LA battery is out-done.

There is a large network in the world that runs the gas pumps that power our vehicles. It is a system that goes from an oil pump to the refinery to the distribution centers to the corner station. It's worldwide in size and the capital equipment within this system is almost too big to comprehend.

So when the world switches to magnetic drive, how are we going to replace this network? Do we merely need to switch all the gas pumps hoses with wires?

Kinda, but "merely" is as big an understatement as the size of the petrol system. It'll be like eating an elephant.

How does one eat an elephant?... One bite at a time.

And Beijing is taking a bite. The taxi system is switching to EV's. It is encouraged because of the smog problem in the city. But the number charging stations or battery-swap stations just won't handle the kind of increase in EV taxis the government is hoping for. So they are building stations to fix the problem.

This seems like a good idea on the surface - getting rid of the exhaust from a large number of the cars driving in the city. But the power requirements of the stations will have to come from somewhere. And we already know where it will come from.

The coal plants not far from Beijing. And those coal fired plants are one of the main reasons the city has a smog problem. Sure, the coal plants might be a little more efficient than the cars, but the smog problem will not be reduced as much as they want it to be.

And the reason they really want to get a handle on this now is because in a few short years Beijing will be on display at the Olympics.