IBM Creates 'Breathing' High-Density Lithium-Air Battery

MrSeb writes "As part of IBM's Battery 500 project — an initiative started in 2009 to produce a battery capable of powering a car for 500 miles — Big Blue has successfully demonstrated a light-weight, ultra-high-density, lithium-air battery. In it, oxygen is reacted with lithium to create lithium peroxide and electrical energy. When the battery is recharged, the process is reversed and oxygen is released — in the words of IBM, this is an 'air-breathing' battery. While conventional batteries are completely self-contained, the oxygen used in a lithium-air battery comes from the atmosphere, so the battery itself can be much lighter. The main thing, though, is that lithium-air energy density is a lot higher than conventional lithium-ion batteries: the max energy density of lithium-air batteries is theorized to be around 12 kWh/kg, some 15 times greater than li-ion — and more importantly, comparable to gasoline."

Gasoline-like energy density

[GameboyRMH]

Your move, range anxiety crowd.

Re:Gasoline-like energy density

[GameboyRMH]

Drat you've got me. God forbid you have to take a half-hour break to get an 80% recharge after driving for over 8 hours at highway speed. You might even have to choke down a snack to bury your sorrows.

Re:Gasoline-like energy density

[guttentag]

Your move, range anxiety crowd.

OK, I'll bite. This is an "air breathing" battery that uses oxygen from the atmosphere to create lithium peroxide and electrical energy. What if I drive to some place where there is no air, like Los Angeles, and get stuck there?

Re:Gasoline-like energy density

[Belial6]

That's why the cars need a standard connector on the back. So you can hook up that generator trailer and recharge while you drive.