A lithium-ion breakthrough that could boost range and lower costs
71 points by thelastgallon
by 7777777phil
1 subcomments
Worth noting this is an anode-free design. Removing the anode matters more for commercialization than the energy density headline because it cuts material costs and simplifies manufacturing.
80% capacity retention is promising buuuuut.. "near-real-world conditions" is doing heavy lifting in that sentence.
by MBCook
1 subcomments
What does it mean it doesn’t have an anode? How is the other pole connected to the battery?
by meling
1 subcomments
Jikes! How many ads can they squeeze in on news website… really distracting (I’m not using ad blocker).
by apparent
4 subcomments
I get that this can make it possible for greater range for the same price, but what about the same range for lower price? If it weren't for the batteries, EVs would be much cheaper than ICE vehicles. It stands to reason that if we can cut the battery cost while keeping range the same, we could greatly cut the cost of the EV in total.
Maybe car companies don't want to do this because they'd rather price discriminate and get every last penny. It would be too bad though, since some people would happily upgrade cars more frequently if they weren't so outrageously expensive ($50k avg price for new vehicle transactions, IIRC).
by zamalek
0 subcomment
This is awesome news - and maybe a leap forward to tide us over, but solid state batteries are also usually hyped for safety reasons: puncturing one with a nail won't result in a fire (or some other accident). The article doesn't mention that - only that they've mitigated safety concerns from dendrites.
by sedatk
2 subcomments
I don’t want lithium-ion alternatives for better range. Quite the opposite, I’m actually okay having slightly less range if it means my car won’t spontaneously combust. This one apparently improves the safety of lithium-ion batteries too, so it’s great, but I hate when headlines focus on one thing that matters the least.