Charging the battery like filling the tank
Fast-charge lithium-ion technology overcomes one of the biggest problems with EVsMIT researchers have come up with a lithium-ion battery technology that reduces charging times to supercapacitor levels, overcoming one of the major hurdles to market acceptance of battery powered vehicles.
The team claims it has found a way to speed up the rate at which ions travel from cathode to anode compounds during charging by remodelling the lithium iron phosphate molecules through which they travel to give them a glassy surface. This solves a long-known problem with lithium ion batteries -- lengthy recharge times owing to the tardiness of the ions in parting company with the cathode -- reducing charge times to as little as five minutes for an EV battery and just seconds for laptop and mobile phone cells.
The ramifications are considerable: EV drivers will be able to plug in and charge up anywhere in not much more time than it takes to fill a petrol tank (and with companies elsewhere working on systems that integrate charge and billing into a single transaction at the plug, it will likely end up taking no longer than a visit to a petrol station).
Two companies have already licensed the technology, including A123 Systems, the lithium-ion battery specialist behind the retro-fittable Hymotion plug-in kits for Toyota's Prius and Ford's Escape Hybrid.
Expected time to market won't be fast, however, even though the new technology only involves a modification of an established one. Requiring a complete overhaul of existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing methods, it's likely to take 2-3 years to make the shelves.
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