Encouraging news on battery capacity

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CalBattery has designed a new li-ion battery with a silicon-graphene anode promising a major improvement in battery energy density. The design is based on what the company calls its "GEN3" silicon-graphene composite anode material for li-ion batteries, the technology breakthrough for which was developed at Argonne National Labs. The company entered the li-ion battery cells into the Department of Energy's 2012 Start UP America's Next Top Energy Innovator challenge, and is a finalist in the competition.

Independent test results show that CalBattery's cells have an energy density of 525 watt-hours per kilogram, and anode capacity of 1,250 mili-amp-hours per gram. Compare this to the typical commercial battery out there right now in the 100-180 watt-hours per kg range, and anode capacity in the 325 mili-amp-hours per gram range.

That means 300 percent more energy storage than current batteries, the potential to go 300 percent farther on a charge than current EVs and a huge cost reduction. "This equates to more than a 300 percent improvement in lithium-ion battery capacity, and an estimated 70 percent reduction in lifetime cost for batteries used in consumer electronics, EVs, and grid-scale energy storage," CalBattery CEO Phil Roberts told Torque News.

 

Source: http://green.autoblog.com/2012/10/31/calbattery-working-on-300-mile-li-ion-batteries-at-greatly-reduc/

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  • I wonder if this beats out Lithium Air batteries?

    http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smart_grid/article/battery50...

  • Mark Harrison, someone already has developed the kibf of battery you are talking about! BAE Systems has developed what they call "Structural Battery". here is an except from the article I read not long ago.

    This new technology stores the electrical energy within the physical structure of a device – reducing or eliminating the need for traditional batteries.  This could represent a significant reduction in weight..."

    Here is the link to the rest of the article:

    http://www.baesystems.com/article/BAES_035647/frontline-military-te...

  • Moderator

    Sorry Artern, I was making a joke!  Although it would be pretty neat if the entire outside surface of an aircraft were able to function as an energy storing medium.

  • Imagine flying with a scaled down version of this :)

    http://www.cheniere.org/books/excalibur/moray.htm

    From the way I understand it, he takes the very high frequency energy all around us and passes it through a special diode he created using germanium and other material to convert it to dc. Sort of like filling a pool that is on the beach but at a higher elevation. Just put a tube from the ocean to the pool with a one way valve at the ocean end and wait for the pool to fill. It seems the secret was in his home made diode.

    Batteries seem the lowest tech denominator in our crafts but at least it looks like they are getting an improvement. :)
    The Tom Bearden Website
  • @Mark Harrison

                              I'm waiting for somebody to make covering material out of graphene sheets.

    It is called graphite, it is naturally occurring and is widely available.  I fail to see though how covering an aircraft in graphite will help you to power it

     

    In general, I can’t tell you how often I read about a new groundbreaking discovery that will improve batteries capacity to weight ratio by a factor of 10 and decrease charge time to mere seconds never to be heard of again.  Conspiracy theories aside, I think a giant leap in battery tech never going to happen.  Certainly, there is going to be some improvements in batteries but I think it is going to be small incremental steps rather than giant leaps.  Lithium batteries has been around for 20 years and nobody came up with nothing better yet despite of who knows how much money poured in to the research. 

     

     

     

     

  • Tripple battery capacity with the same size as your present batteries.

    This surely result in longer time between charges.

  • Moderator

    The market for these is so huge the RC fraternity will probably only get these years down the line :(

  • Multirotors are about to go 10 leaps forward with this technology so i am just waiting for it to become available... 

  • Moderator

    I'm waiting for somebody to make covering material out of graphene sheets.  Then the entire aircraft could be nothing but battery!

  • Graphene will solve all of the worlds problems :D

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