New Advancement in Battery Technology Could Lead to a 10x Improvement in Efficiency

[arparaspolo]

Honestly, IMHO, there is no excuse for battery life in electronic devices to be as poor as it is. Technology changes everyday and moves forward but somehow batteries keep going backwards. It makes no sense.

They aren't moving backwards. The problem is they aren't moving at all. Like you mentioned, technology is advancing daily but somehow batteries are standing still. And now they say in five years these batteries will be 10 times better than what we have now. That sounds great now but our tech will be 50 times what it is today in 5 years which could put that "awesome battery" at the same point we are at now.

 

[Trusstopher]

They aren't moving backwards. The problem is they aren't moving at all. Like you mentioned, technology is advancing daily but somehow batteries are standing still. And now they say in five years these batteries will be 10 times better than what we have now. That sounds great now but our tech will be 50 times what it is today in 5 years which could put that "awesome battery" at the same point we are at now.

I agree with this, but only to a degree. "Advancing" tech does not always mean "advancing" power consumption. It seems like as of the last 3 or 4 generations of devices the push has been to get more processing power out of our devices at the cost of higher power consumption, but it seems like there has been an increase of concern in the current and even more so in the next generation to make the components more power efficient as we begin to hit the "practical" peak of processor power for a mobile device. Making something twice as fast as the previous iteration eventually because unnoticeable as you approach "instantaneous" (with respect to what a human can physically observe. I don't care if something can happen in 10 ms instead of 20 ms) where as making it twice as efficient in power consumption will be very noticeable.

 

[Sweettooth]

I'm simply blown away that there's not some genius somewhere making a breakthrough on battery tech. There's gotta be something better out there.

Where's our Tony Stark to outfit a small plasma reactor in our phones!?

 

[Eric18]

If you look at PopSci.com this battery has only enhanced the anode not the cathode and the researchers next plan is to rethink the cathode to further boost efficiency and effectiveness.:biggrin: So imagine a battery 20x more efficient then the ones we have today.

 

[GohanBurner]

That is definitely something I want to see in my phone, ESP since 4G eats so much of it.

 

[GohanBurner]

I hope that this isn't limited to cylindrical only...becuase...that's probably going to increase the girth of our phones lol. Unless they make many little ones or something. I hope they can make flat ones...

 

[Kag Pirate]

Something I found a while back and might have posted it or said something about HA my memory is lacking at this hour.

I agree with this, but only to a degree. "Advancing" tech does not always mean "advancing" power consumption. It seems like as of the last 3 or 4 generations of devices the push has been to get more processing power out of our devices at the cost of higher power consumption, but it seems like there has been an increase of concern in the current and even more so in the next generation to make the components more power efficient as we begin to hit the "practical" peak of processor power for a mobile device. Making something twice as fast as the previous iteration eventually because unnoticeable as you approach "instantaneous" (with respect to what a human can physically observe. I don't care if something can happen in 10 ms instead of 20 ms) where as making it twice as efficient in power consumption will be very noticeable.

Nanotech extends battery life for smartphones, satellites, supercomputers

By Andrew Nusca | March 11, 2011, 6:32 AM PST

Like electric cars, the one weak link in the rapidly advancing technology of electronic devices is the battery.
As memory capacity grows and processors become faster than ever, the battery remains a large, clunky component. Mobile handsets are thinner and lighter than ever — except for that battery.

University of Illinois engineers may have found a loophole. The researchers say they have developed a kind of ultra-low-power digital memory that is faster and uses 100 times less energy than conventional memory on the market.

Click Here for rest of the story at SmartPlanet - Innovative Ideas That Impact Your World. Clicking on the other link above takes you to a more in depth of the story at


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So what I'm looking at is what Truss said here

an increase of concern in the current and even more so in the next generation to make the components more power efficient as we begin to hit the "practical" peak of processor power for a mobile device.

and I believe we are or close to that practical peak. New batteries and Memory tech could be what we are looking for to move us beyond current levels of power. Lower voltage means less heat, how much who knows. If you sit back and think about almost all new smartphones are seeing or have new and more advance tech, except the battery and memory. They have been borrowed from other applications of use and yes batteries are smaller to fit into cell phones, basic design been the same for years. Now we get to see the smartphones push for better tech design for them alone.

:gotmyvote:

 

[Tuktanuk]

I hope that this isn't limited to cylindrical only...becuase...that's probably going to increase the girth of our phones lol. Unless they make many little ones or something. I hope they can make flat ones...

Possibly at first but, flat would be soon to follow. There is actually battery technology to do it right now..... It's called depleted Uranium. a Single AA battery would power a device without a charge for up to ten years. The only issue then becomes, how do you keep from irradiating the person or the device. Battery technology is indeed increasing but it's at such a slow rate when compared to the electronic tech around it.