'Nanoball' batteries could recharge car in minutes - tech - 12 March 2009 - New Scientist

[dracodraconis]

'Nanoball' batteries could recharge car in minutes - tech - 12 March 2009 - New Scientist

Researchers at MIT have developed a lithium battery that charges 100 times faster than current lithium battery designs. The trick is a cathose made up of tiny balls of lithium iron phosphate, 50 nm in diameter, that speed the lithium ion discharge process. They predict that a cell phone with this type of battery would charge in about 10 seconds, and a hybrid car in about 5 minutes.

Comments

[ancalagon-tb.livejournal.com]

5 minutes... what kind of power (as in wattage) do you need to generate a gas tank's worth of energy? I don't have time to do the math, but we can't forget thermodynamics!

If everyone does this at roughly the same time (ie, before going to work) can the grid handle it?

[dracodraconis.livejournal.com]

The 5 minute charge assumes a fairly heavy-duty charging apparatus and the authors stated this in the article after providing the estimate. These are theoretical maximums based on results generated in a laboratory. Reality will impose quite a few limits so the real recharges times will be considerably higher, but should be less than with contemporary lithium batteries.