Tesla spends a considerable amount of resources on basic research into EV systems – as well it should. EV technology is very young compared to that of ICE vehicles, so it’s safe to assume that, in a few short years, the aggregate of many incremental technology advances could lead to significantly better EVs. Of course,… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "lithium-air"
Li-ion batteries a bright spot in China’s economy
China’s overall economy is in the doldrums these days, but the lithium-ion battery industry is booming, according to market intelligence firm CCM. Nearly 80% of the world’s new investment in Li-ion batteries was in China in 2014. China’s electrochemical energy storage market recorded a compound annual growth rate of 110% from 2010 to 2015, about… Read more »
Cambridge scientists claim promising lithium-oxygen battery advancements
Cambridge scientists have developed a working demonstrator of a lithium-oxygen battery that is more than 90% efficient, and can be recharged more than 2,000 times. Lithium-oxygen, or lithium-air, has been touted as the ultimate battery technology, because its theoretical energy density is ten times that of lithium-ion solutions. In “Cycling Li-O2 Batteries via LiOH Formation… Read more »
Researchers add compounds to electrolyte to prevent dendrite growth
Those doggone dendrites are the bane of battery boffins working on otherwise promising lithium metal anodes. Now a group of researchers from SLAC, Stanford and MIT have discovered that adding lithium polysulfide and lithium nitrate to an ether-based electrolyte can prevent dendrite growth and minimize electrolyte decomposition. Professor Yi Cui, Professor Yet-Min Chiang (a co-founder… Read more »
Tesla hires prominent battery researcher Jeff Dahn
Better and cheaper batteries will be one of the key enabling technologies for the clean, distributed energy system of the future. More specifically, they are a critical component of Tesla’s master plan to produce an affordable mass-market EV. The Seers of Silicon Valley added a big name to their stable of battery boffins this week,… Read more »
Fuji Pigment develops new type of aluminum-air battery
Metal-air battery technology could offer very high energy density, and is considered a promising candidate for “beyond Li-ion” next-generation batteries. Aluminum, which is abundant and cheap, is a likely anode material. Aluminum-air batteries have a theoretical specific energy of up to 8.1 kWh/kg, second only to lithium-air batteries (13.0 kWh/kg). A pioneer in the aluminum-air… Read more »
Toyota opens up its fuel cell patents; BMW will also research FCVs
Taking a page from Tesla’s book, Toyota plans to make some 5,680 patents on fuel cell technologies available royalty-free. The motivation appears to be much the same – just as Tesla hopes to encourage other automakers to produce battery EVs, Toyota wants to “open the door to the hydrogen future” and “spur development and introduction… Read more »
Phinergy CEO on aluminum-air batteries and 1,000-mile range-extended EVs
Along with its industry giant partner Alcoa, Israeli startup Phinergy says it has aluminum-air batteries for EVs in the can. More than 550 feet over the National Mall in Washington, DC, the single most significant piece of American aluminum triangulates a point between the White House, the US Capitol, and the Lincoln Memorial. It is… Read more »
Toyota researchers develop all-solid-state Li-ion batteries
As Toyota plans to bring a fuel cell vehicle to market in 2015, its researchers continue to work on next-generation battery technologies. In a presentation at the International Meeting on Lithium Batteries in Como, Italy, Dr. Hideki Iba from Toyota’s Battery Research Division and Dr. Chihiro Yada from Toyota Motor Europe’s Advanced Technology Group noted… Read more »
Wildcat’s new copper fluoride cathode material offers 2.5x more capacity than today’s battery tech
The current generation of lithium-ion battery materials is quickly approaching its theoretical limit. In commercial layered oxide cathodes, like the popular nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), there is only one lithium ion for every metal. So, the most energy you could possibly store with those materials is one full lithium in and out, or about 300 mAh per… Read more »