Three second battery charge could make electric cars more viable
By John Lister
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a battery which could be charged in just three seconds. As well as saving hassle in household appliances, the technology could make electric vehicles far more efficient.
The technology involves lithium-ion batteries which are common in laptop computers and cellphones because they can carry a high level of charge in proportion to their weight. The batteries work by the movement of ions and electrons which create a circuit.
The researchers discovered that in a different variant of lithium the ions moved much more quickly because they could pass through tiny tunnels in the material’s surface. They realized this could be recreated in a lithium-ion battery once they figured out a way to guide the ions to the tunnel entrances.
Having done this, they’ve now produced a battery which can be charged in 20 seconds compared with six minutes for a similar battery made in the traditional manner. They estimate a commercially viable version which charges in three seconds could be ready within a couple of years.
The system has a couple of other benefits. First, the batteries would no longer need to contain cobalt, which can cause problems with overheating. Second, the revamped battery would no longer lose its recharging capacity over time, so there’d be no need to build oversized batteries to guard against this. That should mean much smaller and lighter rechargeable batteries.
It’s not the charging which will benefit electric vehicles most though; the sheer amount of power needed for an automobile means it will still take some time to recharge an electric car. The key is that the process which creates the fast charging works for discharging as well, which could make it much more efficient to provide the burst of charge needed to accelerate the vehicles.
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March 13th, 2009
“First, the batteries would no longer need to contain cobalt, which can cause problems with overheating. Second, the revamped battery would no longer lose its recharging capacity over time, so there’d be no need to build oversized batteries to guard against this.”
If you aspire to a career as a writer, you need to learn some of the basics. Firstly, it’s “firstly” *not* “first”. Secondly, it’s “secondly” *not* “second” ;-)
March 14th, 2009
First, pay no attention to Hugh’s nonsensical
use of “firstly” – do and you’ll look like some
mail-order degreed boob. NOBODY writes in such a stilted fashion, at least not during the past 60 years that I’ve been reading text.
Second, third gen batteries do NOT “lose their recharge capabilities over time,” at least not much : the Volt’s battery pack will last more than ten years before its storage capacity drops below 80%. The extent to which degredation occurs in this new battery has not yet been quatified – it is premature to claim enormous increases in lifespan, although cost reductions will be linear with any such extensions.
March 16th, 2009
Thanks Kerry. I was about to express similar thoughts about Hugh’s comments. I did not experience any problems understanding the article.