A new battery shaped like a ream of paper has an impressive amount of energy density, which has the ability to increase the range of electric vehicles.
The German company Mobile Energy Storage Systems is attempting to double the energy density within a battery, and thereby increase the range of electric vehicles.
The new battery the company is working on is stacked like a ream of paper, with various layers on top of one another. The new design was created to ensure that no space was wasted on inactive components in the system, resulting in the potential to double the energy density of a traditional battery.
By getting rid of the housing that encases the individual batteries and turning it into a thin, sheet-like design, they were able to reduce wasted space. The metallic sheets that the storage material utilizes are made from a powdered ceramic mixed with a polymer-based binder. One side of the sheet serves as the cathode, while the other side of the sheet functions as the anode. The sheets of bipolar electrodes are separated by thin layers of electrolyte and a material which prevents the electrical charges from shorting out the system.
The battery is sealed within a package about 10 square feet (1 square meter) in size, and it connects to the top and bottom of the vehicle’s electrical system. The researchers hope to create a battery system that will fit within the same space constraints as currently used by Tesla vehicles.
Mareike Wolter oversaw the project that could double the range of electric vehicles.
“We can put more electrodes storing the energy in the same space,” Wolter said.”
The team at Mobile Energy Storage Systems have been working on the project for around 3 years, and they will apparently be ready to test a prototype by 2020. If the team is successful in creating the prototype, the device has the possibility to revolutionize the distance capabilities of electric vehicles, though it remains to be seen if the team will succeed.
