A pioneer of power has recently come up with new cheaper batteries that can change the world as we know it.
The entire tech industry has seen such a boom since we figured out how to contain energy inside a small metal block.
We named it batteries and it allowed us to use gadgets without having to keep them attached to a power source. But as we began expanding our knowledge, the current batteries we had weren’t good enough.
It could still power our devices but its life wasn’t satisfactory. For years we have been exploring new ways to make our batteries cheaper and it looks like someone just figured out how.
The Old Era Before New Cheaper Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries played a major role in our tech evolution. Over the years, they’ve powered everything ranging from cell phones to electric cars.
But as our expectations grew higher, people started questioning “Are lithium-ion batteries really worth it”? There were also major safety concerns which kept troubling electric car owners.
But recently, a company who’s been in the field for several decades has come up with a solution.
The proposed solution can reduce the cost of batteries by about 90%. It also has the potential to make them much safer to use.
Problems Involved In The Old Regime
Hideaki Horie was a part of Nissan Motor Co., for years, and recently, he founded a company called the APB corp., The name of the company expands to “All Polymer Batteries”.
The APB corp has the support of numerous tech giants from Japan. Horie says that the production of Li-ion batteries is getting so complicated.
If we can find a to compromise this, the cost of production will go down substantially. In order to make the basic battery unit, a production house needs to maintain airlocks and perform constant air filtering.
This is to keep the moisture out of the production space and to safeguard the highly reactive materials. But these new cheaper batteries will not need those high-end setups.
The New Cheaper Batteries
Horie is proposing a solution which is to replace the basic battery unit with a resin counterpart. This way of approach will reduce the time it takes to manufacture batteries.
Horie says that this new approach is as easy as making bread toasts. This, in turn, increases the safety as resin-based batteries do not catch fire when punctured.
It will help companies save billions of dollars that they invest in making the arrangements for the production house.
The bi-polar design that Horie proposes might reduce the storage of the battery. People around the world still believe that APBs can never compete with Li-ion batteries.
Conclusion
APB says that it has no intention to push their invention into the auto industry. They agree that there is a lot of trial-and-error that needs to take place before making the technology perfect.
APB has agreed to first test their batteries on stationary places such as offices. There are rumours saying that the company has already signed a deal with its first client.
This large Japanese company is yet to reveal its identity. Horie says that his invention is proof that we can start producing batteries in huge quantities. No matter what, these new cheaper batteries are here to stay.