Your smartphone is wonderful. It can steer you to that trendy new fusion restaurant if you are lost. It can play your favorite sitcom as you head to work on the train. It can play your favorite song at the touch of a button. However it can't do any of this if its battery is dead.
A Better Battery on the Way?
Engineers at Chicago’s Northwestern University have been working on advancements in battery technology and may have discovered a way to make batteries charge in minutes and last significantly longer.
Northwestern's researchers have found a way to extend the charge of lithium-ion batteries by more then 10 times the present lithium-ion battery life. They're even boasting that after 150 charges, which they believe represents about a year of operation, the new lithium-ion battery will be 5 times more efficient than batteries right now.
A Charged Battery for a Week
Ultimately, this new cell phone battery could stay charged for a full week, even with all the apps we use daily. And the charging time? Below 15 minutes. Which will sure make our lives easier, but more than that, this new battery technology could lead to smaller and more efficient batteries for electric cars. This could consequently, have a dramatic effect on our reliance on fossil fuels.
Batteries Powering Technological Change
Advancements in battery technology are not something we typically pay attention to. But this one may have a massive positive impact on our lives, and not just where convenience is concerned. This new lithium-ion battery may hold the key to a greater technological shift.
