Report: UCSD researches say new lithium-ion battery tech could cut cost, increase charge times

Researchers from University of California, San Diego say that they have figured out a way to better estimate what goes on inside lithium ion batteries. The breakthrough could lead to lower battery costs and faster charging times for lithium-ion batteries used in electric-vehicles.

An algorithm has been put together by professor Miroslav Krstic and postdoctoral fellow Scott Moura to see what actually goes in the ‘complicated world’ of lithium ion batteries.

“If one could have a better knowledge or better estimation of what’s going on inside, one could [safely] operate closer to the limits of performance, which means that the oversizing and overdesign would be less necessary,” Krstic said. “That translates into savings in costs and in weight.”


Krstic said that right now, engineers have little understanding how lithium-ion behaves in batteries so they build batteries that are too large and heavy. By using the their algorithm, the cost of producing lithium-ion batteries could reduce by 25 percent and could double charge times.

Source;
http://www.egmcartech.com/2012/10/10/report-ucsd-researches-say-new-lithium-ion-battery-tech-could-cut-cost-increase-charge-times/