Forget Electric Cars, The Future of Battery Technology is in Airplanes

Richard Wang is trying to bring lighter, more powerful batteries to the world. The best way to do that, he says, is by electrifying airplanes. Wang is the founder and CEO of battery startup Cuberg, which is trying to use new, advanced chemical combinations to develop better batteries than the lithium-ion cells that serve as workhorses for laptops, cell phones, and electric vehicles. There are a lot of companies trying to do something similar—QuantumScape and Sila Nanotechnologies, to name a couple—each with a different pitch as to what chemical makeup or materials science breakthrough is going to deliver the goods. And like other next-generation battery concepts, Cuberg’s cells will be more expensive than commonplace lithium-ion cells, at least at first. But where Wang differs is in his idea for the best way to overcome that barrier and bring his technology to the mainstream. He wants to focus on an area that the push for electrification has barely touched so far: flight. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Cuberg is betting on what are known as lithium metal batteries to do the job. Instead of using graphite for the battery’s anode, as most conventional lithium-ion batteries do, Cuberg’s batteries use solid lithium, which Wang says results in much higher performance: 70% more energy per unit of weight and volume compared to the best lithium-ion batteries available today, which means electric planes could go a lot farther, and be a lot ...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate change Climate Innovators healthscienceclimate Transportation Source Type: news