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Volvo Working on Revolutionary Battery

The battery... The current nemesis of the really successful, dependable, electric vehicle and a major obstacle in the reduction of the retail price for any given EV. But that is today, because tomorrow Volvo is planning to change all that.

The Swedish manufacturer, fresh into Chinese ownership, announced today it is working on a concept vehicle which might change the EV market for good. The work they are now doing, and which is scheduled to last for the next three years or so, will eventually lead to the creation of a very special type of battery.

A battery that will be like no other battery we know today. A battery which will not be a battery per se, be the car itself. Or, at least, the body panels of the car.

The Imperial College in London launched a project which brings together nine European companies and institutes and one car manufacturer, Volvo, in a joint effort to create a composite blend of carbon fibers and polymer resin that can store and charge more energy faster than conventional batteries.

Strong and pliant, the new material will allow the carmakers which will eventually end up using it to shape the material in pretty much any way they desire. Besides having all the aforementioned attributes, the new material is also 15 percent lighter than steel.

The project is being funded with EUR3.5 million ($4.6 million) coming from the European Union and will be split into three phases. The first will be the creation of the composite material, with only the final stage to see the batteries being shaped as body panels.

UPDATE: A more complete guide on what the technology is supposed to do can be found here.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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