News

A new high-performance, high-energy-density lithium-tellurium (Li-Te) battery system — based around a Li-metal anode and a Te-based cathode — was recently developed by researchers at the Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Korea. The mechanically reduced (MR) Te/C nanocomposite electrode material that the researchers created shows “high energy density, excellent […]

Those doggone dendrites are a bane of battery builders. These pesky fern-like growths can form on the surfaces of anodes during cycling, reducing battery life or even causing a catastrophic short circuit – this is how the battery fires on the Boeing 787 are thought to have started. A team […]

Battery-maker Energy Power Systems plans to establish a high-volume manufacturing facility in Pontiac, Michigan. The new 150,000-square-foot facility will produce batteries for use in start/stop and micro-hybrid vehicles; utility-scale distributed energy storage; renewable energy integration; and fast-charging infrastructure for EVs. Full-scale production is expected to begin in early 2016. Initial […]

A team from the University of Waterloo in Canada and BASF has developed a way to stabilize cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries, significantly improving performance and cycle life. Li-S batteries offer high theoretical energy density and low cost, due to the high natural abundance of sulfur. However, the insulating nature of […]

The US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) has awarded a $299,000 contract to Seeo Inc. of Hayward, California. The nine-month technology assessment program will focus on testing of Seeo’s elevated-operating-temperature solid polymer battery modules. Under the contract, Seeo will deliver its DryLyte battery modules to USABC for testing and third-party validation. […]

Johnson Controls is adding a lithium titanate battery to its line of automotive battery offerings. The new 12-volt technology, the product of a collaboration with Toshiba, is designed to power Advanced Start-Stop vehicles. “Johnson Controls is pursuing opportunities to develop evolutionary low-voltage energy storage systems that will help our customers […]

While the mythology that currently surrounds Nikola Tesla does contain a lot of very fanciful elements, there’s no doubt that the man had a mind that was well suited towards the creation of technological “marvels.” The man has certainly left his mark on the world of modern technology — which […]

Emerging materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) will eventually displace silicon in power electronic applications, according to a new report from Lux Research, which forecasts that the market for GaN power electronics will reach $1.1 billion, about 5% of the total market, by 2024. While silicon […]

While lithium-ion is the chemistry of choice for EV batteries, almost every ICE vehicle made today still uses the ancient lead-acid battery technology for its 12-Volt starter battery (Porsche and a couple of other makers of high-performance cars offer lithium-ion starter batteries). Auto OEMs and battery providers want to preserve […]

Forbes, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Giacom, Green Car Congress, Xconomy, Reuters Pe Hub,The Green Optimistic, VentureBeat, and the MIT Technology Review have all written about the California start-up company Seeo. Korean electronics giant Samsung led in the recent $17 million round of series E investments. The other two investors, Khosla Ventures and Beijing-based GSR Ventures, increased […]

Lithium-sulfur batteries are of great interest, as they could offer specific energy densities far greater than those of current lithium-ion chemistries. However, current designs are plagued by low efficiency and capacity degradation. A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Beijing Institute of Technology has devised a […]