After using the current generation of battery technology, I can’t help but wonder when the next big advancement in this field will happen. I mean, my laptop – which I’ve had for a bit more than a year – is due for a battery replacement already… After looking online, a replacement battery can range from around $50 to $100; sometimes even more then that… Another big drawback of the current generation of batteries is that they take a while to charge; which is an inconvenience especially if you need to be somewhere and also in need of a charge on your electrical device. So where are we in this regard?
Well some researchers believe that the next big thing will be electrical ultra super capacitors. Yes, these super hero capacitors sound all nifty, but can they truly perform as expected? Well, in case you’re not familiar with electronics, “regular” capacitors store a small amount of energy in reserve and can offload their “charge” almost instantaneously; the same goes in reverse, you can load the capacitor up with usable energy relatively fast. So gone would the days be of waiting for your darn phone to charge! Now those are some pretty nice things about capacitors.
These batteries would be extremely useful in a certain technology industry; that industry being the car industry. One big problem holding the car industry back is the fact that charging is no quick task. With the “dirty” cars, you can fill them up in a matter of minutes, whereas batteries take hours on end… So image if you could just pull up in a car parking lot, while have each parking lot equipped with a device to wireless charge ( [ www.lockergnome.com ] ) your car! You could then do your shopping, come back, and ride on to your next destination with a fresh full charge without worry and fret. Gone would be the need for any "gas" station visits at all, giving us more time to spent on more important things to dabble in; one thing is certain about that, you simply can’t complain with that.
The future is looking bright, I must admit, now hurry up and get here already so we can all reap the benefits as soon as possible!
Similar Stories:
[ www.engadget.com ]
[ inhabitat.com ]
[ blog.cleantechies.com ]