Lithium & The Future, page-56

German researchers create a lithium-ion battery that retains 85% of its capacity after 10,000 charges



For use in electric cars and renewable energy storage

Scientists at the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg, aka ZSW) in Germany have developed a promising new type of lithium-ion battery. Pictured below are samples in the 18650 format that the ZSW has made; they have a power density of 1,100 W/kg, and after a gruelling 10,000 cycles of completely charging and discharging them, they still held 85% of their original capacity.

This means that an electric car with those batteries could be fully charged every day for about 27.4 years and still be going strong (chances are the rest of the car would need to be replaced before the battery). Large battery cells could also be used to store power from wind and solar systems (unless by then we have grid-scale liquid-metal batteries available more cheaply).