New nanotechnology research could lead to massive improvements in EV battery capacity

[Polycount]

Why it matters: One of the most significant problems today's electric vehicles face is limited range. Tesla's cars can often travel upwards of 250 miles on a single charge, but compared to the range of many gas-powered cars, EVs are still at a disadvantage. However, recently-discovered improvements in battery tech could lead to a whopping three-to-five-fold improvement in EV range.

These improvements come from a technological breakthrough discovered by Norwegian researchers based out of the Institute for Energy Technology. With this technology, a modern electric vehicle could travel over 1000km (621 miles) of range on a single charge.

Interestingly, these findings are not limited to electric vehicles. As long as the technology is proven safe and reliable over long periods of time, we could see exponential increases to battery capacity in laptops, smartphones, or tablets in the coming years.

So, what's the technological advancement that led to these massive improvements? According to a report from Business Insider, the answer lies in the properties of silicon and nanotechnology.

Battery makers have always known that silicon can hold more charge than graphite, but due to technological roadblocks, it was never efficient to create a battery mixture composed of mostly silicon - the battery would break down much too quickly.

Now, however, researchers are using nanotechnology to "maximize silicon content while minimizing breakage," raising the proportion of silicon to graphite. How they've accomplished that is unclear, but you can bet researchers are already looking into ways to bring the technology to market.

As impressive as this new technology sounds, don't expect to see an iPhone with weeks of battery life hit store shelves anytime soon.

Even if future industrial testing is successful, the tech could take years to mature, and tech companies will need time to implement it in their own device designs.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/75504-new-nanotechnology-findings-could-lead-massive-improvements-ev.html

 

[yRaz]

In before "my cell phone battery has never improved so battery capacity never breakthroughs make it to market"

 

[vincentyu]

Battery technology breakthroughs are usually so far away from commercialization that these kinds of stories should be reported at least 5 years later.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Might as well celebrate someone might be pregnant.

 

[wiyosaya]

Sooner or later, IMO, one of these breakthroughs will hit the market.

 

[davislane1]

Guys, guys!

Listen...

None of this really matters.

Because...

The heat death of the universe is going to kill us all before the Kickstarter backers figure out they’ve been had.

 

[Reachable]

High capacity plus quick charging means not just electric cars but also electric airplanes, the demise of the internal combustion engine, the shriveling to next to nothing of the oil companies, the world perhaps saved from global warming. And you'll be happy that you won't have to charge your phone so often.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

High capacity plus quick charging means not just electric cars but also electric airplanes, the demise of the internal combustion engine, the shriveling to next to nothing of the oil companies, the world perhaps saved from global warming. And you'll be happy that you won't have to charge your phone so often.

Any time anyone mentions "global warming" we can be sure we're being spun to fit some agenda or other. And you disregard all the pollution, mining, and manufacturing toxins it takes to produce and power these devices as well. One might well think you don't know what electricity or heat are, or what "charge" is to begin with.

 

[Nocturne]

If this is actually that huge of a breakthrough they may FasTrack this one in Industrial to hit consumers faster than 5 years, Batteries currently are hidering progress at an unprecedented levels, Vr, EVs, cell phones, these are more than enough industries that would jump at this technology, and they have money to slap down to forward research, as current batteries pose hazards with the graphene layer breaking down and causing shorting leading to explosions and fire hazards.

 

[DaveBG]

These absurd battery tech news should be banned. Every week we have new battery tech news that promises eternal happiness and none of them has been found to be real...

 

[Badvok]

Range anxiety will always be a problem with EVs, there are only two solutions: 1) Produce swappable battery packs or 2) Stick to ICE and use carbon-neutral fuel.

 

[wiyosaya]

High capacity plus quick charging means not just electric cars but also electric airplanes, the demise of the internal combustion engine, the shriveling to next to nothing of the oil companies, the world perhaps saved from global warming. And you'll be happy that you won't have to charge your phone so often.

Any time anyone mentions "global warming" we can be sure we're being spun to fit some agenda or other. And you disregard all the pollution, mining, and manufacturing toxins it takes to produce and power these devices as well. One might well think you don't know what electricity or heat are, or what "charge" is to begin with.

With humanity's garbage found virtually everywhere on the planet, including at depth in the Mariana Trench, I think it hard to argue that humanity is not having an impact on the Earth and its environment.

There is also significant pollution and waste end-to-end, from drilling and refinement to use in automobiles, of fossil fuels. In conversations like these, I often find that people only think about the waste that comes out of the tail pipe and never consider drilling, refinement, and transportation to market.

Not to mention, that fossil fuel was naturally made from carbon sequestered over millennia. I think it hard to argue that dumping what was sequestered over millennia back into the environment over the course of a few hundred years is a good idea.

Back more than 10-years ago, someone tried to argue that a Hummer was more environmentally friendly than a Prius over the life of the vehicles. It did not take long to debunk that argument as it was found to have been made by a PR firm that was paid to produce that report and that in the process of producing that report, they quoted inaccurate and misleading information - as one might expect in a "report for hire" scenario. Money goes a long way in the production of some narratives.

Personally, I don't think the research should stop. I follow research like this and I do note that most of it never seems to come to market for one reason or another. However, I think this research should continue as one day, my bet is that it will lead to significant advances - assuming no contrary interest buys the patents and buries them in an effort to maintain their narrative.

(I've seen evidence of interests buying and sitting on patents, actually. I researched something called Gas Filled Panels which have an R-value of 18 to 21-per inch as opposed to the best foam insulation of 7-per inch which means a super-insulated house could be built with standard 2x4 framing. Someone bought the patent rights for residential use, and only now, about two-decades later since the patent has expired, the product is starting to make an appearance in the residential insulation market.)

In addition, to the best of my understanding, there are companies out there such as Toyota, BMW, and others who are working to commercialize new battery technology. Perhaps when those EVs come to market, we will see these batteries in their vehicles, perhaps not.

On the side of being conservative, I see nothing wrong with trying to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels which are known pollutants that are linked to health problems. Back in the 1970's, California was beset with SMOG. It is only through regulations that this has been reduced, and those same regulations contribute to the significantly cleaner air that the US enjoys today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Smog_Check_Program

I also don't buy Mitch McConnel's narrative: "I don't believe in global warming because God said he would not smite the Earth again."

 

[Reachable]

You know, it really would help if we stopped burning fossil fuels. Someone who I'd had the good judgment to have previously tossed into the "Ignore" bin went to pieces when I mentioned global warming. Going beyond using the fossil fuels is one of numerous steps to be taken, and 'alternative' technologies have their liabilities also, but face the fact that the internal combustion engine and the power plants and furnaces that burn the non-sustainables are probably the biggest single cause of the temperature rise. Those who oppose steps to combat climate change are the ones with the agendas -- perhaps associated with the oil companies, or maybe just stifled in reason by being caught in a political identity.

 

[erickmendes]

Come to your Android iPhone anytime in 2148.

 

[Nilbud]

High capacity plus quick charging means not just electric cars but also electric airplanes, the demise of the internal combustion engine, the shriveling to next to nothing of the oil companies, the world perhaps saved from global warming. And you'll be happy that you won't have to charge your phone so often.

No.