IBM’s new battery technology for EV’s set to replace existing Lithium-based batteries

Let’s face it, Electric vehicles (EV) are the future of mobility, that’s for sure. Even at this early stage of the technology, we’ve already enjoyed some of the benefits that EV’s has.

One of the problems that plagues EV’s development and production is on the battery they have. Most EV’s today runs on Lithium-based battery, though they are considered the best and most suitable for electric vehicles today but sustainability, safety and cost put them disadvantageous. though there are technological improvements over the years, they still poses these inherited problems somewhere along the way.

And did you know how Lithium-based batteries were produced? it uses heavy-metals like cobalt and that’s just the beginning, how they’re disposed, well, what we’ve been enjoying today would be a huge problem for in the future, they’d become e-waste and are deemed unfriendly to the environment.

With this shortcomings in Lithium-based EV battery technology, IBM came up with a solution to the problem with a cobalt-free design. It doesn’t use heavy-metals but instead, it extracts materials from seawater which are highly abundant on the planet.

The new battery uses three new and different proprietary materials: Cobalt-free and Nickel-free cathode material and a liquid electrolyte with a high flash point. With these materials combined, it is able to suppress lithium metal dendrites during charging, therefore reducing the chance of flammability which is a problem for lithium-metal as an anode material found on Lithium batteries.

According to IBM, this new battery technology outperforms Lithium-based batteries in power density, power efficiency, significantly lower charging time (based on research: it takes less than five minutes to reach 80% charged) and lower cost.

With this new discovery, this development should work efficiently on vehicles live electric cars, motorcycles and even in aircraft and drones.

IBM partnered with Mercedez Benz Research and Development North America, Central Glass, one of the top battery electrolyte suppliers in the world, and Sidus, a battery manufacturer to help develop a battery development ecosystem and eventually bring this into future vehicles and other applications.