nature.com — Two researchers have developed battery cells that can charge up in less time than it takes to read the first two sentences of this article. The work could eventually produce ultra-fast power packs for everything from laptop computers to electric vehicles.
Mar 11, 2009 View in Crawl 4
jareth86Mar 13, 2009
This will never be commercially available. It would benefit the development of the electric car too much. It is the reason we keep seeing dozens of articles about new fantastic super batteries, yet none of them ever make it to market.
Closed AccountMar 13, 2009
There's an upper limit on the maximum power you can transfer using induction (that's what wireless charging technology is based on). In other words, if you don't want ferromagnetic parts of your car to evaporate, you cannot charge it instantly using wireless power..
njslackerMar 13, 2009
true drmsux. but what if electric cars of the future had retractable extensions to contact charging strips on the highway, something like bumper cars or electric trains.
njslackerMar 13, 2009
I'd rather have the super battery.
Closed AccountMar 13, 2009
this will be way cooler once it's real.
bob1029Mar 13, 2009
There is a reason batteries take a certain amount of time to charge... If you had a 1aH battery rated for 5v that was completely discharged, and you wanted to fully charge it in 5 seconds:1aH * 60*60/5 = 720 amps for 5 seconds @ 5 volts = 3600 watts of continuous power consumption for 5 seconds. This is also considering a theoretically impossible 100% conversion efficiency.$10 says if you tried to plug a cellphone with such a battery into a car charger, your s**t would catch on fire. At your house on 110vac main with a 15 amp breaker, there is a very good probability that it would trip. This is all assuming that someone can create an amazing new compound which can hold that much power and withstand the immense amount of current and still fit in your blackberry.
fredfredricksonMar 13, 2009
No, it would still need to be charged. It just wouldn't be the traditional hour of charging you're used to.
wafflejesusMar 13, 2009
Falcon punch!!!
techylahApr 2, 2009
Hey all you tools who do the simple math and freak out because a 4000 mah laptop battery charging in 1 minute would require 240 amps - serious meltdown and house breaker tripping levels.This could be solved with:ULTRA-CAPACITORS! One built in to a charging station might take 10x longer to charge up. It would always be ready, though.Now heat-up and contact resistance might be a problem for 240 amps. Instead of a simple jack, you'd need a lot of surface area.Perhaps a vice-like clamp that grabs the battery and presses some multiple square inch plates against it. One minute later your battery is charged, your ultra-capacitor isn't , and if all went well, yoou battery might be just a bit warm!