Battery

The Chinese city of Dalian has just switched on a world-leading new energy storage system, expected to supply enough power for up to 200,000 residents each day, with an initial capacity of 400 MWh and output of 100 MW.

Scientists experimenting with key components in lithium batteries have come up with a promising new design that could see electric vehicles charge much faster, and offer twice the range at the same time.

Scientists have demonstrated a new electrode material that could facilitate much faster charging for lithium batteries, and one that forms in a rather unusual way – through the charging process itself.

Geely's electric brand Zeekr has teamed up with Chinese battery giant CATL on an ultra-long-range version of its Zeekr 001 shooting brake, resulting in a production electric car capable of doing more than 1,000 km on a single charge.

Zinc-based batteries are one of a number of more cost effective, and potentially safer alternatives to lithium-ion, and a new breakthrough shows how crab shells might make them a whole lot more sustainable as well.

Scientists at South Korea's National Research Council of Science & Technology have demonstrated a promising new battery architecture, and one that could lead to big improvements in capacity and charge times.

A new battery from MIT uses common materials – aluminum, sulfur and salt. Not only is the battery low-cost, but it’s resistant to fire and failures, and can be charged very fast, making it useful for powering a home or charging electric vehicles.

Scientists at Rice University have put forward a promising solution to lithium-metal battery failure, developing a film made of fine powder that can be brushed onto electrode surfaces to prevent the formation of dendrites.

Illinois Tech spinoff Influit Energy says it's coming out of stealth mode to commercialize a rechargeable electrofuel – a non-flammable, fast-refuelling liquid flow battery that already carries 23% more energy than lithium batteries, at half the cost.

An exciting candidate when it comes to alternative battery chemistries is sodium-ion, and a research team in Russia has developed a novel battery of this ilk that boasts some impressive energy density, and may also be resistant to low temperatures.

Scientists at UCSD have built a lithium battery that can not only operate at freezing cold and scorching hot temperatures, but may store double the energy of current devices and be friendlier to the environment while it's at it.

Electricity-producing bacteria could be an intriguing renewable energy source. Engineers have now developed a biobattery that contains three layers of different bacteria species, which together take in sunlight and produce electricity.