Researchers improve Li-on battery life, increase capacity 30 percent
By Nilay Patel 
posted Apr 10th 2008 1:12AM
posted Apr 10th 2008 1:12AM
Although's Moore's Law continues to race along, battery tech hasn't nearly kept up pace -- so we're excited by developments like the one just announced by Argonne National Labs, which has managed to increase Li-on capacity by 30 percent while making the batteries safer and longer-lasting. The secret ingredients in Argonne's new juice box are a new composite battery material that's partially electrically inactive and manganese oxide-based electrodes in place of the traditional cobalt oxide. Argonne says it's already licensed the tech to Japanese manufacturer Toda Kogyo, which has the capability to produce 30 million laptop batteries a year, but the lab is still working on improving charging rates -- while it's adequate for laptops and cellphones, the battery will need to discharge at least three times faster to work in a car. No word on when we might see these start shipping, but you can bet "manganese battery" is being added to our dream machine spec list right... now.[Via ExtremeTech]
Damn it! I was just about to suggest they do that! *sigh of moment-too-late frustration*
they stole my idea
So you're saying my X61s will now have 10.4 hours of battery life?
I'll take two
This will definitely be great for smartphones. Surfing the net can be a decent drain on their batteries.
the phone with the 666 day charge will now last 866 days! we have finally rid the devil!
WOOT!
:P
The 512.3076923076923076923076923076923076923... phone turns into the new devil.
the 665.99999999999999999999999999988 phone you mean?
Although this is a nice achievement, I won't be happy until my laptop can get at least 50 hours on a single charge while using Wi-Fi and my cell phone will function with 3G or 4G access for a full month. Is that too much to ask?
Yes
50 hours?
I just want about half that or a quarter...
your christmas wishlist must be the running joke of santas factory!
:D
wow! improvements on battery power? 30% increase no less? this is great news!
yeah, maybe cnn will pick this up.
They'll still explode/catch on fire.
30% is serious!
My Dell with 9-cell gets 7 hours of surfing the information super highway ( :p ), this would take it to 9 hours. Real gains.
We're always hearing about these stunning new developments in battery technology, yet every fracking new computer/gadget gets the same battery life (or worse) than the previous generation.
I used to have a phone that would go two weeks before recharging. That was back when phones were tools, not toys.
battery tech improvements are cancelled out by the shrinking size of the battery. its assumed that current battery life is acceptable and minituristion (cosmetics) generally sells better than battery life(which cannot advertise itself ), so manufacturers go with with the looks.. even though the battery has better qualifications, and went to a better college.
Wouldn't it be cool if we could use our piss to power our laptops.
I think that would be awesome.
You should become god for suggesting something so great.
Would the smell really be worth it?
Don't answer that!
My piss is better than yours!
It doesn't smell.
go see a doctor, that's not healthy
Urine batteries. Been there, done that.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0818_050818_urinebattery.html
thats a really good idea. i can recharge batteries in my arm pits so anythings possible.
New Engadget layout... confusing... icons overlapping everything... AAAHHHHH!
Holy crap I commented and everything fixed itself.
Now that's service. Thanks AOL!
AOL? That would explain it, but....
Man, I actually /like/ this! ...it feels like the code got a ton cleaner.
..it certainly looks a lot better.
Anybody care to illuminate exactly what changes were made?
Galleries apparently use AJAX to only refresh the image and not the page. Awesome!
I love the thought of better, safer, more powerful batteries with faster charge times and longer power life.
What I don't love is how long it takes to go from theory/testing to Walmart/Target.
Where I the nanocell batteries I read about a couple of years ago - charge in seconds and I believe they were supposed to be 10 times as powerful as lithium cells?
Where are the plastic batteries I read about a year ago - also using a honeycomb design for quick charging?
Was it Lithium Polymer w/Iron or Silver batteries that were going to hold us over till nanotube batteries hit the market?
Lots of claims of incredible battery technology in the last few years - none of it is in my phone, laptop, car, flashlight... and I doubt it will be any time soon.
That's what you get from reading sites like this, lots of hopeful announcements and concepts that never come to fruition, annoying but there you have it.
Does this mean that instead of catching fire, they'll now explode?
Dear Engadget, it`s called Li-Ion and not li-on ;)
Thanks for the info though.
Naaah! they will burn for 30% longer!
I'm a little confused. "but the lab is still working on improving charging rates -- while it's adequate for laptops and cellphones, the battery will need to discharge at least three times faster" Are they trying to fix charging and discharging or just faster discharging?
I quote:
The researchers' next step is improving the rate at which the composite material can be charged and discharged so that it can be used in hybrid vehicles. As it's made now, the Argonne material can be completely discharged in about three hours--fast enough for laptops but far too slow for a car. Discharging rates will need to be at least three times faster, and likely more, for the technology to work in plug-in hybrids, vehicles in which the battery can be recharged from a conventional electrical outlet.
Man, that's awesome -- and I work there.
I wonder what else they've come out with recently and forgot to tell everyone about.
30 million a year eh, that hardly seems enough.
So does that mean they will now be 30% more likely to explode or catch on fire???