Panasonic batteries to last 30% longer: Breakthrough? [Batteries]

Panasonic announced a new battery that lasts 30% longer than today's lithium ion batteries. Instead of a graphite anode, these new rechargeable lithium ion batteries will use an anode made of silicon alloy, and Panasonic claims after 500 charge/discharge cycles, the batteries will still retain 80% of their capacity.


This could be a big deal. While there are already silicon alloy batteries in development by Hitachi Maxell, Panasonic's 30% improvement goes 10% beyond their alleged capacity improvement. Aimed at laptops, Panasonic says this new battery technology will be manufactured in volume starting in 2012.


But wait a second. This 30% improvement is nothing compared to those nanotech-enhanced lithium sulfur batteries we heard about last year — said to last three times longer than conventional lithium ion batteries. Talk is cheap, Panasonic. We'll believe it when we see it.


[DVICE via Nikkei Electronics, via Engadget]

New technology extends lithium-ion battery life

A Japanese company called Eamex claims it has found a way [JP] to increase the life of high-capacity lithium-ion batteries (that can be used in electric vehicles). Eamex says the new batteries can be charged and discharged over 10,000 times. Apparently, they can last about 20 years, too.

The main idea is to stabilize the electrodes and prevent the deterioration of tin, making the batteries withstand repeated charges. The batteries have a negative electrode that incorporates a tin-coated resin and accumulates lithium ions coming from the positive electrode. The positive electrode is made of silicon and tin and swells while generating the ions.

As a result, the repeated charging and discharging causes the binding between particles in the tin to weaken, but Eamex’s technology helps to effectively maintain the bonding among those particles.

The company says it plans to introduce a lithium-ion battery with a power density of 10,000 W/kg by the end of this year. The battery could be used to power electric scooters, for example. Eamex also claims batteries based on their technology have “extremely positive” cost effects (without giving specific details), which isn’t hard to believe given their lifespan.

[CrunchGear via The Nikkei]

Panasonic's Future High Power Lithium Ion Batteries Will Kick 20-30% Harder [Battery]

Great news: Panasonic not only started mass producing laptop type battery with a record setting rating of 3.1 amp hours this December, but in the next few years, will make these cells with up to 4.0 amps in 2013. Yowzer.
Part of the secret is to use nickel instead of carbon for the positive terminal in each cell. The previous record at Panasonic for type cells were 2.9 amp hours, and a quick search shows that most are in the 2.2 amp range.
Battery tech still remains one of the slowest developing sectors in technology, which is why Obama put billions of dollars in grant money towards its research. And why this is great news for all.
[Gizmodo via Panasonic]

Panasonic Delivering a Lithium Storage Battery That Can Power Your Home For a Week [Batteries]

After officially taking over Sanyo earlier this week, Panasonic is hitting the ground running with a joint venture aimed at developing a powerful lithium-ion storage battery than could store enough juice to power an average [Japanese] home for a week.
The battery will also include a system that will allow users to monitor their electricity usage through their televisions. Seems like a viable alternative to solar batteries and fuel cells, but I'm curious to know how a week of powering a Japanese home equates to powering a typical American home. Either way, the technology won't be available until sometime in 2011.
[Gizmodo via Physorg]

Grace is called the world's first E-Bike

Build an aluminum electric bike with euro-fighter and Formula One parts, power its 1300-watt motor with lithium-ion batteries, and you have Grace in motion. The company is calling Grace "the world's first and finest E-Motorbike," and while we beg to differ with that slogan — we've ridden a few profoundly exciting electric bikes ourselves — we have to admire the stylish build and cool power of this conveyance that looks like it came from the next century. And this is beyond just a bicycle — it's almost fast enough to be called a motorcycle.

Because this is all very high-tech and handmade in the company's Hanover, Germany shop, you'll have to plunk down €5877 ($8742) for the privilege of gracing yourself with this electro-bike when it ships in January. But then, the company claims that Grace is somehow 'really cheap compared to a car.' Maybe they have a point. If your commute is moderate, that might be true, with Grace's 18 to 31-mile range (depending on your weight), 40mph top speed, and one-hour battery recharge time. If it just went a bit faster and lasted a little longer, we'd call it amazing.

[DVICE]