Toshiba has developed a new lithium-ion battery called SCiB (or Super Charge Ion Battery) which can charge to 90% capacity in 5 minutes. The life cycle of the new battery is more than 10 years even if it is rapidly charged and discharged many times. The battery is also mucher safer than other types of lithium ion batteries, which are potential fire hazards.
Toshiba will begin commercial production of the battery in March 2008. The company says the battery can be used in electric motorcycles and hybrid cars. Toshiba currently makes 150,000 cells a month, mostly for electric bicycles.
Toshiba says its batteries use a lithium-titanium oxide negative electrode. That makes the batteries more stable than typical lithium ion batteries, which use carbon-based negative electrodes.
The company also unveiled a bike manufactured by Cannondale Sports Group that uses the quick-charging lithium ion battery. The SCiB battery uses lithium titanate for enhanced safety and is made up of ten battery cells connected in series. See more information about this bike at CleanTechnica.
The key feature of the battery is the use of lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) is used as a negative electrode material with electrolyte with a high flash point and a separator with a high heat resistance. Because of this feature, a thermal runaway is less likely to occur in case of an internal short-circuit, so the risks of burst and combustion are reduced, Toshiba said.
For a positive-electrode material, lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) was adopted as in the case of Li-ion secondary batteries for portable devices.
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Is this the beginning of a revolution?
Anyone heard what the pricing is like?
Sounds safe and fast… awesome!
On a side note… does anybody have any ideas on what an efficient thing to do with an old mattress is?
Fantastic find, Justin.
This is super exciting. Imagine being able to ride an electric-assist bike to work or to do errands (if the biking infrastructure existed), then recharging your bike in just 5 minutes!
Wonder if versions of this battery will also find their way into smaller consumer electronics devices such as laptops, camera, camcorders, etc. It could be extremely useful to get off a flight and plug in your laptop for 5 minutes to recharge it before a meeting…
- Aaron Dalton, 1GreenProduct.com
Way to go Toshiba team! This is the sort of innovation we need.
Two quick notes, however. Batteries for vehicles won’t recharge in 5 minutes. Do the math. Way too much total power; we would need massive capacitors to dump the power that fast, even if the batteries can recharge quickly.
And secondly, if you are interested in way cool electric motorcycles Today, then check out Zero Motorcycles in Santa Cruz, California. They are shipping some very cool Li Ion battery powered motorcycles (not bicycles), recharge time is 2 hours, upto 55 mph.
Shhhhhh, the perfect trail bike —imagine it!
Way to go Toshiba team! This is the sort of innovation we need.
Two quick notes.
First, batteries for vehicles won’t recharge in 5 minutes. Do the math. Way too much total power - would need massive capacitors to dump the power that fast, even if the batteries can recharge quickly.
And secondly, if you are interested in way cool electric motorcycles, then check out Zero Motorcycles in Santa Cruz, California. They are shipping some very cool Li Ion battery powered motorcycles (not bicycles), recharge time is 2 hours, upto 55 mph.
Shhhhhh, the perfect trail bike —imagine it!
Way to go Toshiba team! This is the sort of innovation we need.
Two quick notes.
First, batteries for vehicles won’t recharge in 5 minutes. Do the math. Way too much total power - would need massive capacitors to dump the power that fast, even if the batteries can recharge quickly.
And secondly, if you are interested in way cool electric motorcycles, then check out Zero Motorcycles, http://www.zeromotorcycles.com, in Santa Cruz, California. They are shipping some very cool Li Ion battery powered motorcycles (not bicycles), recharge time is 2 hours, upto 55 mph.
Shhhhhh, the perfect trail bike —imagine it!
This is exciting. On the other hand, titanium is more expensive than and less environmentally friendly than the carbon alternative (but perhaps a negligible amount is used).
ram — The best way to recycle a mattress is to sell it or give it away via Craigslist or freecycle. I’ve sold a mattress on CL whose springs had become too soft, but someone still wanted it. If no one else wants it, you may be able to find a local recycling center to take it — there are companies that take old mattresses and reuse parts of them, I think.
A metaefficient new bed for you would be a thick rug that you can roll up in the morning — as is down in a number of foreign countries; it’s cheap, eco-friendly, and saves space!
congratulations, it is a great idea