“New higher-capacity, lithium-ion batteries will soon be available and could keep devices running for twice as long, according to the technology’s inventor,” Liam Tung reports for ZDNet.
“The batteries, produced by MIT spinout SolidEnergy Systems, differ from standard lithium-ion alternatives in that they use lithium-metal foil instead of graphite as the anode material,” Tung reports. “Since the metal foil can hold more ions, it can achieve a higher energy density, which could translate into longer-lasting wearables, phones, cars, and drones.”
“‘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,’ Qichao Hu, CEO of SolidEnergy, told MIT News,” Tung reports. “According to Hu, SolidEnergy’s first batteries are for drones and will be available this November. SolidEnergy also plans to deliver batteries for smartphones and wearables in early 2017 and electric cars in 2018.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll take an iPhone that runs twice as long, please! As for Apple Watch, new features like GPS and LTE would certainly benefit from greater battery capacity.