Sony has come up with a new kind of rechargeable lithium ion battery, one that uses olivine-type lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material. The new battery’s cathode material performs more stably than most others, especially at high temperatures and is touted to last four times longer than the current lithium ion batteries used in devices today.
The new battery keeps an impressive 80% charge retention even after 2,000 charge-discharge cycles, which by itself is a mean feat that today’s li-on batteries can’t hope to match. It also charges quite rapidly – 99% in half an hour. The prototypes for the batteries were originally designed for power tools, although Sony expects the technology to trickle down to consumer electronics soon.
It would be great to see the new battery technology used in laptops and netbooks. As it stands now, the battery design isn’t suited for such devices, but Sony intends to develop the technology further. So far, there’s no mention of pricing and let’s hope that product development allows for quick deployment of this new technology into consumer gadgets.
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