Photo: gigaom.com
We have been reporting a good number of battery innovations over the last few months, and this, Lithium-Air battery technology is one of the more promising ones. It features Lithium, which is the lightest metal, and it mates it to oxygen.
This melange of light elements means that the end-result is equally-light. Theoretically-speaking, this type of battery will hold a few times more electricity than normal Lithium-ion batteries, but researchers have yet to make a rechargeable Lithium-air battery, so it’s currently no good for EVs which need to be recharged thousands of times throughout their operational lives.
According to spectrum.ieee.org, Researchers from Rome and Seoul are well on their way to perfecting this type of battery, having already achieved 100 charge/discharge cycles with little loss. Another research team, from Scotland, has also managed to break the 100 cycles barrier, with a minimal 5% loss in capacity - so results are very promising.
Battery tech is advancing rapidly and there are already a number of semi-viable options for powering EVs, the main hurdle being their cost, as Lithium-ion batteries have become relatively accessible due to the technology’s extensive use in most electronic devices. Maybe these will also get a boost from these new developments in battery tech, and, hopefully, we won’t have to charge our smartphones every day, as is most often the case.
According to spectrum.ieee.org, Researchers from Rome and Seoul are well on their way to perfecting this type of battery, having already achieved 100 charge/discharge cycles with little loss. Another research team, from Scotland, has also managed to break the 100 cycles barrier, with a minimal 5% loss in capacity - so results are very promising.
Battery tech is advancing rapidly and there are already a number of semi-viable options for powering EVs, the main hurdle being their cost, as Lithium-ion batteries have become relatively accessible due to the technology’s extensive use in most electronic devices. Maybe these will also get a boost from these new developments in battery tech, and, hopefully, we won’t have to charge our smartphones every day, as is most often the case.
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