Over the last few years much of the talk with regards to the electric vehicle sector has focused upon battery restrictions with many people calling for greater investment in the sector. There was a general consensus emerging that lithium ion batteries had perhaps been pushed to their technological limit and we may need to strip back the battery sector and go back to square one. However, researchers at the University of Limerick have announced a ground breaking breakthrough which could effectively double the life of an electric vehicle battery.

 

This new development incorporates the latest nanotechnology which is something that will impact every area of everyday life. It is a technology which has been around for a few years but is still in its infancy with regards to its potential to change areas such as battery storage capacity.

 

What does this new development mean?

 

Researchers at the University of Limerick found that their new technology allowed for a doubling of battery capacity which was still intact even after the batteries in question had been discharged and charged more than 1000 times. This new technology could revolutionize the market which is expected to be worth in excess of $50 billion by 2020.

 

In simple terms this new technology is a nanowire-based anode which has the ability to greatly increase storage capacity with lithium ion batteries. The technology is environmentally friendly, energy friendly and perhaps more remarkably, relatively low cost. There are now high hopes that the new type of battery, which will also be relevant for laptops and mobile phones, can be rolled out in the medium term.