The Evolution of Battery Technology: Understanding the Challenges and Future Prospects

For over 200 years, battery technology has remained relatively stagnant, with minimal improvements being made to the fundamental design. Despite significant investments in research and development, it seems that the next major breakthrough in battery technology is elusive. The last decade has seen numerous claims of revolutionary new battery technologies, but many of these promises have failed to materialize.

One reason for this lack of progress is that lithium-ion batteries are currently the standard, and any attempt to improve upon them requires a significant structural redesign. While lithium-ion batteries are the lightest and most chemically active metal on Earth, making them ideal for cost efficiency, taking this technology to the next level is a daunting task. The addition of new materials or designs can have unpredictable effects on battery performance, making it difficult to introduce meaningful improvements.

Moreover, batteries are not yet fully understood at a molecular level. Scientists still struggle to comprehend how introducing certain new elements will affect battery performance, and much of the work in this field involves trial and error. This slow and laborious process creates a vicious cycle where companies invest heavily in existing technologies rather than exploring new materials or designs.

The majority of investment in battery technology is currently focused on lithium-ion batteries, which has created a market dominated by a few large players. Companies like Tesla, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic have significant market share and are less interested in radical departures from the current standard. This creates a challenging environment for smaller companies working on new battery technologies.

Despite these challenges, there are several ongoing projects that hold promise for the future of battery technology. Graphene, a single layer of graphite, has been touted as a miracle material due to its incredible strength, conductivity, and lightness. Compared to lithium-ion batteries, graphene-based batteries can potentially charge five times faster and have significantly longer lifespans.

Several companies, including Samsung, are already working on graphene-based battery technologies. Samsung has developed a graphene-based battery for smartphones that can be fully charged in 12 minutes. Other companies like Graphene NanoChemics also have similar solutions that leave the current lithium-ion standard in the dust. However, there is still a significant issue of viability to overcome before these batteries become commercially available.

It's difficult to predict exactly when we will see graphene integrated into consumer technology. While it's possible that some early versions of graphene-based batteries could be released within the next few years, it's unlikely that they would become ubiquitous in consumer devices overnight. Instead, it's more likely that we'll see gradual integration of graphene-based technologies into existing products.

As we move forward, it's essential to understand that developing new battery technologies is a complex and challenging process. While there are many promising developments on the horizon, it's unlikely that we will see revolutionary breakthroughs in the near future. However, with continued investment and research, it's possible that we will eventually see significant improvements in battery technology, enabling us to power our devices more efficiently, sustainably, and for longer periods of time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthere is a new generation of batteries on the horizon that can be charged from 0-200 in barely five minutes but first things first what's actually the issue with the current ones at it's very core the battery technology or seeing in firms in 2018 is actually identical to the battery tech in 1800 when batteries were first being developed the only real improvement in the last 200 years is the material being used in batteries for energy storage and it's pretty simple better materials store more energy but even though the materials have been getting better the structure and the way the battery works has remained identical and whilst processing power is going up 40 percent every single year batteries are only improving at about 8 percent they are heavy inefficient and not to mention very environmentally unfriendly to give you some sort of idea the galaxy s 9 plus weighs a hundred and eighty-nine grams of that weight about 50 grams is just the battery and so from that you can probably imagine how much slicker and less increased if a phone could be if the battery could be reimagined from what you've seen so far it's pretty clear the batteries are just not as good as they could be right now but why haven't they been improving you're probably wondering why have there not been any breakthroughs yet how is it possible that we've been using the same tech for 200 years and nobody in this time has taken it to the next level and what makes it all the more confusing is that the last decade has pretty much been filled with claims of revolutionary new battery technologies but where did they all go we're talking about batteries that could supposedly last a hundred times longer ones that fit in your palm ones that charge ten times faster now there are three primary reasons why none of these have come into fruition lithium ion which is the current standard was the last easy improvement to batteries but what exactly do we mean by this up until this point making a battery better has just been about using a lighter material and one that is more conductive so for example before lithium-ion became the standard we used to use other materials of batteries like lead like nickel but lithium is just lighter and can also be charged faster lithium is the lightest metal on the planet whilst also being very chemically active but now that we're using the best material on the planet for cost efficiency taking this to the next level requires a structural redesign so clearly that's not as easy to do reason number two batteries are even today just not that well understood at a molecular level no one really fully understands how introducing certain new things will affect battery performance and therefore working on this Tec involves a lot of trial and error which makes it not only slow but also creates a lot of occasions where a company will create one great performing cell only then to be unable to replicate it reason number three there is much more investment in the current standard aka lithium-ion and there is in the next standard while there are many startups and smaller companies working on the next generation of batteries most companies still have their eyes on the current gen lithium-ion as it is is the current best compromise between efficiency capacity and price and this creates a vicious cycle where the majority of investments are focused on lithium-ion the current standards rather than new materials and battery formats the next stage for example Tesla just invested five billion dollars in its Giga factory to build more lithium ion batteries whereas an average company working in the next gen battery segment receives about 40 million dollars every eight years and amongst all this whilst you've got these smaller companies trying to work on something new the big three battery produces Samsung LG and Panasonic you have the majority of market share are less interested in new chemistry's and radical departures in battery technology than they are in gradual improvements to their existing products this creates even more problems for these small innovative firms who are trying to do something new but they're shooting for a moving target because lithium-ion batteries are getting better slowly but surely all right that's all well and good there are clearly some severe complications when it comes to building the next generation of battery but then the question is what are we actually going to see so all of this doesn't really leave us with a clear answer what is the next thing and when is it coming well there are a number of ongoing projects right now but the most realistic and the one we're most likely to see first in a consumer product is graphene it is a single layer of graphite and many describe it as a miracle material it is 200 times stronger than steel whilst being a hundred times more conductive than copper and also a hundred times lighter than menu and compared to lithium-ion it can also allow five times faster charging and it's ready almost Samsung was keen to stress that it has already developed a graphene-based battery for smartphones capable of being fully charged in 12 minutes many other companies like gruffer nano also have similar solutions batteries that leave the current lithium-ion standard in the dust the only issue here is viability even though they have been a long time coming these batteries are still in a proof-of-concept phase they are yet to become cheap enough to commercialize and there is no telling how long this is going to take personally and this is only a rough estimate I think five years I think five years is a rough timeline for when we will start seeing graphene integrated in consumer tech so phones watches tablets and even cars but as with a lot of new technologies like this it's probably not something we're going to see go from zero to a hundred we'll probably see it to begin with integrated in some sort of format into a standard smartphone battery maybe to extend the rate at which it could charge beyond what a lithium-ion battery is capable of and then slowly over the next few years it'll trickle in to become a more integral part of the consumer tech experience anyway guys if you did enjoy this video I've got a couple more that I think you'll really enjoy so I'll leave those as a card above and also if you are new to this channel it would means so much to me if you could smash a subscribe button example load but that being said my name is Erin and this is mr. who's the boss I'm signing out youthere is a new generation of batteries on the horizon that can be charged from 0-200 in barely five minutes but first things first what's actually the issue with the current ones at it's very core the battery technology or seeing in firms in 2018 is actually identical to the battery tech in 1800 when batteries were first being developed the only real improvement in the last 200 years is the material being used in batteries for energy storage and it's pretty simple better materials store more energy but even though the materials have been getting better the structure and the way the battery works has remained identical and whilst processing power is going up 40 percent every single year batteries are only improving at about 8 percent they are heavy inefficient and not to mention very environmentally unfriendly to give you some sort of idea the galaxy s 9 plus weighs a hundred and eighty-nine grams of that weight about 50 grams is just the battery and so from that you can probably imagine how much slicker and less increased if a phone could be if the battery could be reimagined from what you've seen so far it's pretty clear the batteries are just not as good as they could be right now but why haven't they been improving you're probably wondering why have there not been any breakthroughs yet how is it possible that we've been using the same tech for 200 years and nobody in this time has taken it to the next level and what makes it all the more confusing is that the last decade has pretty much been filled with claims of revolutionary new battery technologies but where did they all go we're talking about batteries that could supposedly last a hundred times longer ones that fit in your palm ones that charge ten times faster now there are three primary reasons why none of these have come into fruition lithium ion which is the current standard was the last easy improvement to batteries but what exactly do we mean by this up until this point making a battery better has just been about using a lighter material and one that is more conductive so for example before lithium-ion became the standard we used to use other materials of batteries like lead like nickel but lithium is just lighter and can also be charged faster lithium is the lightest metal on the planet whilst also being very chemically active but now that we're using the best material on the planet for cost efficiency taking this to the next level requires a structural redesign so clearly that's not as easy to do reason number two batteries are even today just not that well understood at a molecular level no one really fully understands how introducing certain new things will affect battery performance and therefore working on this Tec involves a lot of trial and error which makes it not only slow but also creates a lot of occasions where a company will create one great performing cell only then to be unable to replicate it reason number three there is much more investment in the current standard aka lithium-ion and there is in the next standard while there are many startups and smaller companies working on the next generation of batteries most companies still have their eyes on the current gen lithium-ion as it is is the current best compromise between efficiency capacity and price and this creates a vicious cycle where the majority of investments are focused on lithium-ion the current standards rather than new materials and battery formats the next stage for example Tesla just invested five billion dollars in its Giga factory to build more lithium ion batteries whereas an average company working in the next gen battery segment receives about 40 million dollars every eight years and amongst all this whilst you've got these smaller companies trying to work on something new the big three battery produces Samsung LG and Panasonic you have the majority of market share are less interested in new chemistry's and radical departures in battery technology than they are in gradual improvements to their existing products this creates even more problems for these small innovative firms who are trying to do something new but they're shooting for a moving target because lithium-ion batteries are getting better slowly but surely all right that's all well and good there are clearly some severe complications when it comes to building the next generation of battery but then the question is what are we actually going to see so all of this doesn't really leave us with a clear answer what is the next thing and when is it coming well there are a number of ongoing projects right now but the most realistic and the one we're most likely to see first in a consumer product is graphene it is a single layer of graphite and many describe it as a miracle material it is 200 times stronger than steel whilst being a hundred times more conductive than copper and also a hundred times lighter than menu and compared to lithium-ion it can also allow five times faster charging and it's ready almost Samsung was keen to stress that it has already developed a graphene-based battery for smartphones capable of being fully charged in 12 minutes many other companies like gruffer nano also have similar solutions batteries that leave the current lithium-ion standard in the dust the only issue here is viability even though they have been a long time coming these batteries are still in a proof-of-concept phase they are yet to become cheap enough to commercialize and there is no telling how long this is going to take personally and this is only a rough estimate I think five years I think five years is a rough timeline for when we will start seeing graphene integrated in consumer tech so phones watches tablets and even cars but as with a lot of new technologies like this it's probably not something we're going to see go from zero to a hundred we'll probably see it to begin with integrated in some sort of format into a standard smartphone battery maybe to extend the rate at which it could charge beyond what a lithium-ion battery is capable of and then slowly over the next few years it'll trickle in to become a more integral part of the consumer tech experience anyway guys if you did enjoy this video I've got a couple more that I think you'll really enjoy so I'll leave those as a card above and also if you are new to this channel it would means so much to me if you could smash a subscribe button example load but that being said my name is Erin and this is mr. who's the boss I'm signing out you\n"