Automotive and electronics giants are flooding the battery ecosystem with strategic investments. Solid-state battery startup Solid Power, based in Louisville, Colorado, just won $20 million in a Series A investment round from Hyundai, Samsung Venture Investment, Sanoh Industrial, Solvay Ventures and A123 Systems. Late last year, Solid Power announced a partnership with BMW to work […]
Top News
Graphene Chips in for Moore’s Law
Materials innovation has always been an important part of the semiconductor industry. In the past, it was high-κ gate dielectrics. In the present, it is cobalt as a replacement for tungsten in middle-of-line contacts. Graphene is one atomic layer of carbon, the thinnest and strongest material that ever existed. It is 200 times stronger than […]
Lithium Iron Phosphate – The Ideal Chemistry for UPS Batteries?
The ideal lithium chemistry to use in UPS batteries for data centers is lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP). When compared to other lithium battery chemistries, lithium iron phosphate can offer the best mix of safety, performance, longevity, and cost effectiveness. Safety Lithium iron phosphate is a very stable chemistry, which makes it safer to […]
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform is all about improved battery life for smartwatches
Qualcomm has spent the past two years working on the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform. It’s not a single processor or chip, but the combination of a processor, co-processor, modem, and various other components. The end result, according to Qualcomm, is that the 3100 is more powerful, yet easier on the already small batteries manufacturers place […]
Why China’s Top Phone Brands Have Turned To Swedish Audio Firm Dirac For Superior Sound
There are still three or four big smartphone releases this year, but it’s very likely that Oppo’s Find X, with its almost bezel-less face, smooth, seamless back that is uninterrupted by camera modules, and elevating forehead (top bezel) will be 2018’s most ambitious and radically-designed handset. But had longtime Oppo business partner Dirac Research gotten […]
Lithium Werks merges with battery maker Super B Lithium Power
Industrial battery and portable power provider Lithium Werks B.V.said Sept. 3 it has merged with fellow lithium battery developer and producer Super B Lithium Power B.V., uniting two Dutch firms that have been close partners for years and recently signed a multi-year agreement to meet accelerating demand for lithium ion batteries, the firms said. The […]
Walmart is experimenting with wireless power to cut battery costs
Today, Ossia announced that it has struck a deal with Walmart to explore how its wireless power technology can be used by the retail giant. Walmart is hoping to save money on power costs across its many stores. Walmart confirmed the report to Engadget. “When we find ways to lower costs it means we can […]
Battery Company Quadruples BMW i3’s Range With Super-Battery
BMW has been struggling to sell its i3 electric hatchback recently. So much in fact, that the company was offering $10,000 off the price of a new i3 earlier this year. One reason why buyers may be hesitant to purchase an i3 is its poor battery range. The base i3 can only travel 114 miles […]
The race to develop the next generation battery
Whether in a laptop or a smartphone, there’s a good chance that you’re using several lithium-ion batteries every day. Since they hit the market in the 1990s, these rechargeable batteries have helped make our computers and devices portable and, increasingly, our vehicles too. But lithium-ion batteries are not without shortcomings. The world’s supply of lithium […]
Solid Power raises $20 million in the race to build all-solid-state batteries
The race to build the next revolutionary battery is heating up. Just in the first half of 2018, investors have pumped into battery startups double the amount they invested in all of 2017. Add to that list Solid Power, which just raised $20 million from the likes of Samsung, A123 Systems, and Hyundai Cradle. The […]
