Battery Charged in 30 Seconds? Maybe in 2016

Phones and tablets are getting more and more power hungry with each passing generation. Their battery capacities continue to rise, but still we have to face the problem of slowly charging and rapidly discharging batteries. A reasonable solution still hasn’t been developed, but it appears that some good news is just around the corner.

The Tel Aviv-based company StoreDot says it has developed a battery capable of storing a much higher charge more quickly than possible before. As a result, the battery can be fully charged in stunning 30 seconds. A prototype that is currently in use is still too bulky to be shipped with our super-slim smartphones, but StoreDot thinks that they will be able to make the battery significantly smaller by 2016.

The Israeli scientists are able to accomplish this feat using fancy “nanodots,” which are the bio-organic peptide molecules. The project is co-funded by one of the leading Asian phone makers. We should expect to see the first phones with a new type of batteries in 2016 if all goes according to plan.

The projected cost at the time seems like it will lead to a $100-$150 premium over existing models, but such a feature would be worth every penny for road warriors. One battery should last 1500 charges, which is approximately 3 years of standard usage–enough for the lifespan of most devices.

StoreDot also believes that the developed technology can be extended to car batteries. They plan to charge a car battery in two or three minutes, which is significantly better than several hours.

[via New York Post]