Researchers have produced a structural battery that according to the scientists is ten times better than all previous versions. The structural battery contains carbon fiber that acts as the electrode, conductor and load-bearing material at the same time. The researchers expects that their latest discovery will help “massless energy storage in vehicles and other technology.
As it stands, electrifying vehicles such as cars and airplanes is challenging because the batteries add a significant amount weight to vehicles. Moreover, the batteries don’t have any load-bearing functionalities. However, a structural battery works both as a power source and part of the structure of the vehicle. For instance, manufacturers can use the structural battery to produce body of the car or fuselage of aircraft.
As you might expect, these batteries are called massless energy storage since these batteries can be part of the vehicles’ load-bearing structure. The researchers from Chalmers University of Technology said that they believe that a structural battery can significantly reduce the weight of an electric vehicle.
Although researchers have been working on the technology since last decade, they have been unable to manufacture batteries with decent electrical and mechanical properties. As a result, the recent research marks a significant breakthrough in the research. According to calculations, the new technology would provide performances that are ten times higher than the previous prototypes.
