SolidEnergy Systems founder and CEO, Qichao Hu, spoke to MIT News about the potential offered by the new Li-Metal battery technology. "With two-times the energy density, we can make a battery half the size, but that still lasts the same amount of time, as a lithium ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium ion battery, but now it will last twice as long."
The new battery "essentially swaps out a common battery anode material, graphite, for very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which can hold more ions ? and, therefore, provide more energy capacity," explains the report at MIT News. There's another bonus to the new technology ? it is said to be safer.
On the SolidEnergy site you can see a prototype battery built to replace an Apple iPhone battery. It offers 2.0Ah and is approximately half the size of the iPhone 1.8Ah Li-ion battery pack. On the topic of smartphones, SolidEnergy plans to roll out batteries to this market, and to wearables, in "early 2017".
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