Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new lithium metal battery that can be charged and discharged at least 6,000 times — more than any other pouch battery cell — and can be recharged in a matter of minutes.
I would love to see more dramatic research into battery tech, but steps like this are also welcome, as these are necessary stepping stones before even better steps.
They are improving a few percent every other year, but never in big jumps like these headlines would suggest
That’s not true, “regular” Li-ion batteries have become tremendously cheaper and have increased their capacity by a lot in the past decade. The next jump in their capacity is about 50% more again, and it’s already being previewed by the big battery manufacturers. They’re not going to be cheap though.