Journal It doesn't come easy's Journal: Lithium-Ion battery with unprecedented performance 1
A press release from A123Systems announces a new lithium-ion battery technology that delivers unprecedented performance (according to them). The technology is suppose to deliver 10 times the cycle life and 5 times the power over conventional lithium technology, and only require 5 minutes to recharge to 90% capacity. And this is not a theoretical announcement -- the first batteries are now in production and being delivered to the Black & Decker Corporation, who will be utilizing them in a new line of DEWALT branded power tools. The company is also working with the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a major undertaking to develop battery materials for future use in hybrid electric vehicles. Assuming 5 times power means 5 times range (may not be the case but hey let's dream a little, ok?), an all electric car that only had a 70 mile range would be able to go more than 300 miles between charges and only take 5 minutes to recharge at the station. Might this make fuel cell cars (and hybrids) obsolete before they even get started? On a side note, there have been other promises of breakthroughs for lithium based batteries before...wonder if there is a patent lawsuit in the making? This press release is also mentioned over at Green Car Congress.
Oooh! (Score:2)
I could use that. Batteries are heavy. Lighter batteries are a good thing. 5 times lighter batteries are very good thing.
I wonder how well this performs in a high radiation environment....