What holds energy tech back? The infernal battery

• Story
• Comments
• Image (7)

Previous Next

TONY DEJAK

Lew Urry

FILE - In a Feb 27, 2002 file photo, Lew Urry holds up an original alkaline battery that was marketed in 1958, left, and a current battery in Westlake, Ohio. Urry, 76, who still works for Energizer Holdings Inc., developed the first commercially viable alkaline battery. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology. As 21st century technology strains to be ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, the battery, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

Uncredited

Battery Breakdown

This undated photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the burned auxiliary power unit battery from a JAL Boeing 787 that caught fire on Jan. 7, 2013, at Boston's Logan International Airport. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology. As 21st century technology strains to be ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, the battery, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. It's why electric cars aren't clogging the roads and why Boeing's new ultra-efficient 787 Dreamliners aren't flying high. (AP Photo/National Transportation Safety Board)

Uncredited

Battery Breakdown

FILE - In a Oct. 25, 1940 file photo, F. Hans, mechanic of Frankfort-on-Main, tests the battery on an electrically driven bicycle device he has constructed to help save gasoline in the Reich in Germany. The bicycle is run by a 0.4 horsepower electric motor which receives its current from an 8-volt 60-ampere battery. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology. As 21st century technology strains to be ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, the battery, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. It's why electric cars aren't clogging the roads and why Boeing's new ultra-efficient 787 Dreamliners aren't flying high. (AP Photo, File)

OSAMU HONDA

Detroit Auto Show

FILE - In a Jan. 4, 1998 file photo, General Motors unveils the EV1 Parallel Hybrid vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology. As 21st century technology strains to be ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, the battery, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. It's why electric cars aren't clogging the roads and why Boeing's new ultra-efficient 787 Dreamliners aren't flying high. (AP Photo/Osamu Honda, File) JAPAN OUT

HOPD

Battery Breakdown

In this January 14, 2011 photo provided by the Argonne National Laboratory, process engineer Bryant Polzin fills an 18650 lithium-ion battery cell with electrolyte using semi-automated equipment at Argonne's Cell Fabrication Facility in Lemont, Ill. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology, which led to the lithium ion. To make the next breakthrough in battery technology, researchers have to master complex chemistry, expensive manufacturing, detailed engineering, a variety of different materials, lengthy testing, stringent safety standards, and giant cost problems. (AP Photo/Argonne National Laboratory)

Anonymous

Battery Breakdown

FILE - In a Sept. 1, 1966 file photo, a model looks at the Sinclair Micro vision set, a pocket size television set designed by Clive Sinclair that can go anywhere and claims to be the world's smallest TV, at Earls Court, London. The rectangular face plate of the cathode tube has a diagonal measurement of two inches. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the last big jump in battery technology, which led to the lithium ion. As 21st century technology strains to be ever faster, cleaner and cheaper, the battery, an invention from more than 200 years ago keeps holding it back. (AP Photo, File)

Marc Brown

John Goodenough

In this undated photo provided by the University of Texas at Austin, John Goodenough, godfather of the lithium ion battery, poses for photos with one of his devices. Goodenough, 90, is the man responsible for the 1979 breakthrough that led to the first commercial lithium ion battery in 1991. He will receive the National Medal of Science at the White House next month. (AP Photo/University of Texas at Austin)