New Stanford technology could triple battery life.

[Tommygun]

I came across these two stories about Stanford University research into battery technology.

I've always had a particular interest in battery tech sense I think it limits a lot of other fields of development.

Things like this could make electric cars or even small electric planes practical.

One article I came across also suggested it could impact grid-scale energy storage.

Solar and wind power stations could use this to even out their power delivery.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/186952-stanford-creates-holy-grail-lithium-battery-could-triple-smartphone-and-ev-battery-life

This ones about harnessing waste heat from small batteries:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/may/waste-heat-battery-052114.html

Edited July 31, 2014 by Tommygun

[Idobox]

We frequently hear about this or that new technology that could potentially expand battery by x%.

Very few of these technologies ever make it out of the lab, because of cost or reliability.

[Seret]

We frequently hear about this or that new technology that could potentially expand battery by x%.

Very few of these technologies ever make it out of the lab, because of cost or reliability.

Well, I agree that these big headlines almost never play out as predicted, but battery technology has been advancing at a pretty ferocious pace for a while now. The demand is there, and the chemists and materials people tell us the potential for significant growth still exists.

[LaytheAerospace]

The problem with electric cars isn't the charge capacity. Well, it's not the only problem. The biggest problem is charge time. It simply takes too long to charge a car up. Quadrupling the charge capacity just means you have to charge the car four times as long.

Refillable batteries, something I've seen Stanford publish some research on a few years ago, is the innovation that will really make electric vehicles practical. The idea is that you'd fill up your tank much like you always have, except instead of gasoline, it's an electrically charged goo that you swap out for your discharged goo, and the station can spend as much time as necessary charging the goo between fillups. Kind of like a battery swap, but easier, faster and cheaper.

[Seret]

That's called a flow battery, LaytheAerospace. They're of some interest for grid-scale storage too.

[Streetwind]

(...) but battery technology has been advancing at a pretty ferocious pace for a while now.

Can you provide sources for that? Because to me, it's actually felt incredibly static. We got a big bump with lithium ion batteries, but we've also been using them for ages now and battery life of devices pretty much only ever increases through lowering power draw, not through better batteries. Electric cars have been driving the same ranges for ages as well, unless you go Tesla's route and throw a ridiculously sized battery at the problem. Which doesn't exactly speak for battery advancement.

So if there is actual advancement going on, and I've just been too blind to see it, I'd love to read up on it.

[maccollo]

So if there is actual advancement going on, and I've just been too blind to see it, I'd love to read up on it.

Probably one the most exiting developments in battery technology is the liquid metal battery. It's pretty much container sized grid batteries which use abundant materials to maximize the number of watt hours per dollar.

They're designed to operate at several hundred degrees C where the component materials become molten, and they simply separate by their density. They wouldn't be useful for portable devices and probably not for vehicles either, but they could solve the primary problem with renewable energy.

Edited July 31, 2014 by maccollo

[Seret]

Can you provide sources for that? Because to me, it's actually felt incredibly static.

You don't have to dig very far to find it. First hit on Google:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/downloads/events/20130926-eco-industries/20130926-eco-industries-miller.pdf

Slide 4 shows a 100% increase in energy density between 1991 and 2005, and over 90% reduction in cost per joule. There's big money going into battery research, as the demand is there and we're talking about multi-billion sized markets.

[Streetwind]

You don't have to dig very far to find it. First hit on Google:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/downloads/events/20130926-eco-industries/20130926-eco-industries-miller.pdf

Slide 4 shows a 100% increase in energy density between 1991 and 2005, and over 90% reduction in cost per joule. There's big money going into battery research, as the demand is there and we're talking about multi-billion sized markets.

Thanks, that's a great graph. Shame that it's 8 years outdated, but maybe the same guys also have something newer. Unsure how to search for it though, Google won't even show me this particular document no matter what search terms I enter.

I did find something else though that spoke of a near 20% reduction in weight at the same energy density between 2009 and 2012. Also an article from 2010 that claims the battery sector is so rife with disruptive technologies that they barely have time to reach the market before being replaced. On the other hand, that 2006 document touted Li-Air batteries as the next big thing, and the 2013 document still touts Li-Air batteries as the next big thing. And yet we're not seeing anything of them. I guess that's why it feels like things are not moving sometimes.

[lajoswinkler]

Google won't even show me this particular document no matter what search terms I enter.

It's probably due to your different IP. It's a shame Google does this.

[Seret]

Google won't even show me this particular document no matter what search terms I enter.

First hit I get for the strong "battery energy density trend". I am in the EU though, so maybe it's not surprising that Google would serve me up an EC document.