Why Battery Innovation Might Have Become The Biggest Trend In Tech
Anurag Harsh
Founder & CEO at the Creating Dental Excellence Group, Marvel Smiles Group and AlignPerfect
On average, Americans check their phones 150 times a day—that’s about once every 6 minutes. Picking up our smartphones even when we haven’t received a notification is second nature at this point. The problem is that our phones’ battery life can’t keep up with our obsession.
I’ve Got the Power
Imagine yourself walking around any public space on a bright midday afternoon. The sun is shining and people are looking down at their phones. As you bemoan the collective distraction, what may escape your notice are the wires sticking out from phone jacks into portable battery packs tucked away in pockets.
Indoors it is no different. Some of the more successful cafes (e.g., Starbucks) make outlets and power stations handily available to power-hungry customers. And when you don’t have a power station nearby, nor a portable battery pack, and your phone charger is at home, the lilt of desperation in a person’s voice when they say, “I’m at 10 %...” is enough to make you hear a Wilhelm scream in the background.
All jokes aside, battery life is of growing concern for technologists in every industry. There are increasing demands on battery in all manner of device. From game console controllers, fitness trackers, and phones to assistive equipment, tablets, and cars, battery life is a bugbear.
The rewards could be incredibly lucrative for any company that successfully pushes battery technology forward.
The Race Is On
Vacuum-maker James Dyson famously advised that “batteries are quite exciting and sexy things.” He recently announced plans to re-invent lithium-ion cells and bravely promised to invest $1.4 billion in research and development to build a dedicated factory over the next five years.
Last year, after Michigan-based start-up Sakti3 impressed President Obama with its solid-state approach to advanced batteries, Dyson acquired Sakti3 for a cool $90 million. This significant investment catapulted Dyson into the race for long-lasting mobile power.
SolidEnergy unveiled a next generation “anode-free” lithium metal battery that is capable of doubling the life of your smartphone.
Meanwhile, Tesla is ahead of schedule with its Gigafactory factory in Nevada. Tesla's Elon Musk has a master plan for the facility to produce 105-gigawatt hours of battery cells by 2020.
Anyone looking for trends in technology only needs to combine these three big stories of the past few weeks to see where we are headed…
We have Tesla's milestone in battery technology motivated by its mission to extend the range and acceleration speed in electric cars; Add to that SolidEnergy’s proposition to double the battery life of smartphones; and then Dyson's surprising $1.4 billion investment and $90 million dollar acquisition.
What you get is a clear indicator that electric and increased mobile power will catalyze a whole family of technological innovations unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Battery Life = Rate of Innovation
A proof of principle is the Apple watch. The watches are significantly limited by the chip’s processing needs. In other words, it consumes too much battery life and thereby limits the functions developers can incorporate. New battery technology opens up a world of possibilities for Apple and many others.
In Sum
All eyes will now be on who can make the biggest leaps forward in advancing battery technology. And more importantly, which manufactures will put them in their products.
Will portable battery packs and café charging stations become extinct, or will they flourish as our obsession with smartphones deepens when we can spend greater stretches of time active on our phones?
The future is uncertain, but the race to revolutionize battery technology is well underway.
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Turnaround, Manufacturing, and Product Development Professional (Lithium-ion Cell and Energy Storage)
8 年The central premises in the discussion is that current battery technology is not adequate for the implementation of all functionality tech has to offer. Continuous improvement and the desire to innovate guides to better systems or new technologies. It is a systematic output of the effort of those involved in the field. The problem is that most of what tech has to offer are not a necessity for the vast majority of the world's population. The current assessment suggests that energy storage systems have a critical role in the integration and efficient use of energy distribution systems. While it makes good sense to have full functionality and efficiency, one must recognize that in the case of energy, production, and availability is necessary before we can consider all other factors. Energy storage systems need to respond to the characteristics of the power generation systems (i.e. nuclear works well with Hydro and distributed solar works well with batteries). Maybe it is not the case for the wind or other future methodologies. While future power generation schemes will determine the characteristics of energy storage in large scale, the development of new generation energy storage for portable electronics is no longer the priority or force in the battery development. To be fair, it is a burden that the mobile electronics industry tries to push to governments.
First Generation Lawyer | Specialised in Civil Matters | Family Matters | Consumer Disputes | Motor Vehicle Accident Claims | Pre-Litigation Cases | Counselling | Mediation | Legal Opinion | Former Engineer.
8 年Done with charging up the devices through wired, wireless. further a step ahead hoping that gadgets get charged up by the solar energy. Power Energy its efficacy, efficiency through Solar Energy.
IT Intern at EY
8 年Gracious sharing with this one! ??
Great Past, Great Future.
8 年Self-powered devices are the next step.