Interesting article about the future of batteries

[TPP]

Doesn't sound like we'll be getting sub 1Kg 1KWh batteries any time soon. But prices should be coming down.

 

[steve_sordy]

That is pretty much what the World's manufacturers of sheet glass said, until Pilkington unveiled their float glass factory. Overnight all rolled glass factories were doomed, even the ones that had just been opened! It took time of course, but now all sheet glass is made by floating on a bath of molten metal (tin I think, or it used to be anyway).

It is also pretty much what the makers of 3-piece steel cans said until Mardon-Illingworth started making 2-piece steel cans. (2-piece cans until then were made from aluminium, but weren't strong enough for anything other than pre-sterilised drinks).

Similarly, Kodak and their competing film processors, all done in by the digital camera.

I'm sure that we could collectively come up with more examples very quickly.

Lesson is: Technology will always surprise; even those (or especially those) with most invested in the status quo.

 

[Jaygam]

I heard a while back Honda are pioneering work with flouride battery wich has the potential to be 10 times more energy dense than lithium ones!
I'm not sure how close they are to being consumer viable, the the difficulty is getting them to work correctly below 100-odd °C.

 

[Fivetones]

There’s huge interest in developing what comes next. If we are to switch to electric cars (which won’t happen overnight!) we must do better than slow evolution.

What doesn’t help though is that the press will often report research findings as breakthroughs in the technology (see graphene). Often research takes years to develop into viable product.

 

[dirt huffer]

Kind of disappointed the article didn't touch on the difficulty to bring Solid State batteries to the market, to something that is manufacturable at scale

Currently better batteries exist in labs, but they no one has found a way to mass manufacture them at a reasonable cost

 

[Fivetones]

Kind of disappointed the article didn't touch on the difficult to bring costs down for Solid State batteries to a level that is scalable. Currently better batteries exist in labs, but I wonder where companies are at in development - but that's probably top secret, which is why there isn't much to talk about...

It’s really an advice article for tech investors tbh.

As part of govt. industry strategy there’s funding to translate battery research into industrially relevant products. The UK is not alone in investing in this way either.

 

[dirt huffer]

It’s really an advice article for tech investors tbh.

As part of govt. industry strategy there’s funding to translate battery research into industrially relevant products. The UK is not alone in investing in this way either.

Fair enough. haha