A group of researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created microbatteries that charge 1,000 times faster than normal batteries and can, feasibly, “jump-start a car” while powering a cellphone. The group, led by William King, is working on shrinking the batteries down to fit inside a “credit-card thin” device. → Read More
Apple has reportedly changed its battery suppliers for the iPad and MacBook lines to Amperex Technology Limited and Tianjin Lishen Battery, both Chinese firms, after Samsung SDI (Samsung’s battery-producing subsidiary) stopped supplying Apple, the China Business News reports. If accurate, this would be just the latest in a series of rifts between the two companies. → Read More
Professor Keon Jae Lee at the Korean Advanced Institute Of Science And Technology created a solid-state flexible battery that retains is energy level when folded, spindled, and or mildly mutilated. The battery could mean future ereaders and tablets could be paper thin and partially foldable, ushering in interesting new device designs. → Read More
He hoisted himself up a 500 meter-cliff at Grand Canyon, did his magic on the Le Mans 24 circuit in France, and traveled 500KM from Tokyo to Kyoto last year And now, he completed the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, too.
We covered Panasonic’s plan to let its EVOLTA battery-powered mini robot start at the 230km race back in September, and now the company announced the little guy finished it on… → Read More
A Japanese accessory maker called Century started selling the “monolith” [JP] today, a case for the iPhone 4, a 1,900mAh battery, and a mini projector rolled into one (it’s still unclear if the device works with the iPhone 4S as well). The monolith is sized at 63.5×126.6×22mm and weighs 97g.
Century says that users can expect images sized at up to 60cm (in 16:9 format), in 640×360… → Read More
Auto maker General Motors and LG Group will be working together to design and engineer electric vehicles thanks to a new partnership that expands on LG’s earlier work for GM in lithium-ion batteries. Previously, LG delivered batteries for the Chevrolet Volt, the Opel Ampera, and later for a demo fleet of Chevrolet Cruze electric vehicles.
According to the companies, their goal is to reduce… → Read More
Sony Japan announced [JP] the ESSP-2000, a storage battery for professional use that serves as a backup power supply unit in the case of emergencies and blackouts. The lithium ion battery stores 2.4kwh, can be charged to 95% in about 2 hours (using conventional power plugs), and it boasts an impressive life span of over 10 years, according to Sony. → Read More
There is probably no one left doubting that electric vehicles will be a huge market in the future, and now it seems that Sony is agreeing, too. The company yesterday announced it will start making lithium-ion batteries specifically for electric cars and hybrids “from the middle of this decade”. → Read More
NEC is ready to use some of the expertise it gained by developing lithium-ion batteries for Nissan’s electric vehicles in recent years for home use: according to a report in Japanese business daily The Nikkei that was published today, that new 6kwh household power storage system will only cost around $12,300 – which is about 50% cheaper than comparable systems on sale today. → Read More
Lithium: it’s everywhere and we know nothing about it. It powers our phones, our computers, and our cars and the control and use of lithium will, in part, define how we handle the coming petroleum crisis. That’s why Seth Fletcher’s Bottled Lightning is so fascinating.
The book explores lithium from its earliest beginnings to its use in almost everything that we use today. Fletcher, a writer for… → Read More
Looks like we’re getting better, cheaper batteries soon: Sumitomo Electric Industries succeeded in developing a molten-salt battery that’s supposedly 90% cheaper to produce than lithium-ion batteries. The company claims that even though molten-salt batteries are nothing new, the sodium material in their prototype starts melting at 57C to keep the electrolyte in a liquid state (and not at more than… → Read More
Sanyo today announced it has sold 150 million eneloop-branded batteries at the end of December 2010. The company introduced its “green” sub-brand in 2005, and the eneloop product line-up was one of the main reasons Panasonic acquired Sanyo as a whole in December 2009 for $4.6 billion. → Read More
This is rather a creepy line of research. The tobacco mosaic virus, which normally preys on tobacco crops, has been modified in such a way that it is essentially being used as a tiny helper, and millions of them can line up and bind themselves to the walls of battery cells, increasing the surface area and consequently the potential charge. → Read More
Sanyo keeps on adding products to its eneloop brand of eco-friendly, rechargeable batteries. Today the company announced the so-called KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice for the US and other markets, a 9V lithium-ion battery unit designed for charging multiple guitar effects pedals at the same time (it features two 9V outputs and can power multi-effect units and portable recorders, too). → Read More
Back in September, Panasonic announced an unusual publicity stunt: let a cute mini robot walk from Tokyo to Kyoto – powered solely by the company’s rechargeable EVOLTA batteries. The 1kg robot started the journey on September 23 in Tokyo, and today, Panasonic proudly announced the robot has arrived safely in Kyoto. → Read More
Can you imagine Sanyo without eneloop? Sanyo’s “green” sub brand is now 5 years old, and to commemorate the anniversary, Sanyo plans to roll out special batteries. They even issued an English press release to announce the so-called “eneloop tones glitter” battery pack. → Read More
Panasonic has apparently enjoyed quite a bit of success with its previous, rather unusual promotion campaigns for its EVOLTA batteries. In 2008, we blogged an EVOLTA-powered mini robot that climbed up a 500 meter high cliff at Grand Canyon. Then, in 2009, we’ve shown you how such a robot ran 24km on the famous Le Mans 24 Hours circuit in France (on 2 AA batteries). → Read More
The never ending story between Apple Japan and the local government may have finally come to an end. Following months of disputes whether overheating first generation iPod nanos pose a security risk (some iPods caused fire) or not, Apple last month announced it will put up a special warning message on its Japanese company site and offer to replace batteries in all models affected for free. → Read More
Do you own an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Sony Xperia, a Nintendo DS, or other mobile devices? Do you need a power source when you use these gadgets on the go? If yes, then the mobile chargers Sanyo announced today might do the trick for you.
There will be two versions: one, the so-called “eneloop stick booster” (pictured above) comes with adapters (licensed by Nintendo) to power your DS and the other… → Read More
Someone with a better grasp of biochemistry is going to have to suss this one out, but it’s interesting even to a chump like me. It seems that researchers are using a custom virus as a biotemplate (?!) for a new type of battery structure that would allow the charged material to be woven into clothing or other materials. It’s really, really not clear what’s going on here but if… → Read More
Energy storage system producer 24M Technologies spun out of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems today to become a separate venture.
The company raised a $10 million Series A funding round from Charles River Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. → Read More
Didn’t you notice it, Brick? Didn’t you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? While it was my understanding that Steve Jobs owns a number of nickel mines and brings up tons of ore himself to stay in shape, pounding each core into a delicately wrought battery and then selling the produce of his labor as Apple’s rechargeable battery offering, it seems that… → Read More
Harvesting kinetic energy to “charge” a power element is something that goes back thousands of years, to the wind and water mills among other things. And in a more germane form, the self-winding watch goes back decades, if not longer (I’m not the watch expert here). So it’s not really a surprise that it’s being put into batteries — though I wonder whether this is the most efficient way of… → Read More
Ford‘s 2011 Focus Electric will run on Compact Power Inc.’s lithium-ion battery, the company announced today. The batteries will initially be made in South Korea at CPI’s parent company, LG Chem, with plans to start manufacturing at a new $300 million site in Holland, Mich. in 2012.
The Focus Electric will be a full battery electric passenger car made at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, which used… → Read More
Well look at this. The iPhone 4 takes an average of 23 percent longer to charge while charging via USB than it does while charging via a standard electrical outlet. → Read More
One of the biggest hurdles on the road to make electric vehicles attractive for the mass market is the long time it usually takes to charge batteries. But a Japanese company called JFE Engineering now claims it has found a solution for that problem. According to JFE, even so-called “quick battery chargers” often take 30 minutes to charge a car’s battery to 80% of its capacity. → Read More
Picture this: you’re placing batteries into a device. You put them in wrong. Then you swap them so they’re right. How long did that take? If you said “too freaking long” then Microsoft has a technology for you. → Read More
Better batteries may be on the way as lithium-ion battery producer Boston-Power ramps up its manufacturing and R&D with a $60M Series E round from Foundation Asset Management and Oak Investment Partners. Boston-Power produces Sonata, better known as Hewlett-Packard’s Long Life Battery, as well as Swing, which is used to power electric vehicles including the upcoming ZE Saab 9-3.
The company… → Read More
One of the biggest problems that stands between electric vehicles and becoming mainstream is limited battery life. But there has been some progress in that area lately: the Japan Electric Vehicle Club [JP], a civic group based in Tokyo, announced today a Mira EV customized by the group traveled exactly 1,003.184 kilometers without a recharge. → Read More
We have to give concept designers points for trying, but I don’t think this resizable battery is going to fly. For one thing, the actual core is tiny, and batteries derive their power from packing as many volatile chemicals into their little bodies as possible. Imagine putting six of these, at D size, into a boom box — the thing would die in like 15 minutes. → Read More
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