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New Battery Tech From Japan Could Supercharge EVs

Posted by Soulskill on from the still-waiting-on-mr.-fusion dept.

joe5 writes "Many experts suggest that battery technology is really the key to the future of transportation. Its certainly the key to unlocking Tesla for even further growth. Today, a Japanese startup called Power Japan Plus unveiled a new battery chemistry that could significantly improve transportation batteries. In testing, the recycle-able cell has completed more than 3,000 charge/discharge cycles with virtually no performance degradation, meaning that it could conceivably last the lifetime of a car. They company won't yet provide too many details due to pending patents, and won't even say who its first customer is — but the chemistry requires 'specific and proprietary changes to the nanostructure of the carbon crystals.'"

2 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Let me know when it gets to production (if ever) by Spoke · · Score: 5, Interesting

    PR like this claiming the next breakthrough in batteries has been coming out for years, but what actually makes it to production are basically minor tweaks to existing chemistry.

    Inevitably what happens is something keeps the technology from being mass produced, or is too expensive, or simply does not function as advertised.

    I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

  2. Why swapping stations don't exist by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Except if batteries last basically forever, having "swapping stations" where a robot replaces your car battery with a fully loaded one becomes a lot more feasible, since you no longer need to worry about the difference in condition between the old and new battery.

    That is NOT the major thing holding swapping stations back. To make swapping stations feasible you need a standardized power pack installed in a standardized way compatible with a battery pack swap. This standardization need to be agreed to by a substantial market share of electric vehicle manufacturers - enough to justify the enormous infrastructure costs involved in building out a network of swapping stations. Furthermore there need to be enough electric vehicles already on the road to justify the build out.

    Frankly the durability of the battery packs is pretty far down the list of problems with swapping stations.