Biobatteries: Taking Battery Technology to the Next Level
There’s a good chance that the electric battery of the future will have biobased aspects to them — or may even be powered by a biofuel. How’s that again?
If you’ve been following the long-standing competition between electric and fuel-powered cars, you’ll know the basics. That electric motors have better efficiency than internal combustion engines, but electric cars have short ranges because batteries lack the energy density of liquid fuels, are heavy, and expensive, and take a long time to re-charge.
The current favorite among advanced battery technologies is the lithium-ion battery, which can produce a real-world range just north of 200 miles for a Tesla S sedan, but the Tesla S checks in at 4,600-4,900 pounds, and costs between $70,000 and $100,000.
So, we have a ways to go before all-electrics dominate car sales.