"Toshiba has today announced a new lithium ion battery, which, it claims, can recharge 80% of the battery's energy capacity in just one minute, 60 times faster than the other lithium ion cells. It takes an unspecified 'few' more minutes for a complete recharge. The battery has a long life cycle, losing only 1% of its capacity after 1,000 cycles of discharging and recharging. Due to be launched next year, it will initially be used to power hybrid electric vehicles but could be used for smaller devices in future, such as mobile phones and digital cameras." http://www.dpreview.com/news/0503/05032903...osh1minbatt.asp 'Filling up' at a fuel station would be quicker with these than filling up with gas! 8)
Sounds impressive. Though I wonder if size has any baring on recharge time. The article said that the prototype was 3.8mm thick. Unless that's one powerful battery, it's not going to stealth for long. Though the thought of regenning the HV battery to 80% just while rolling to a stop or gliding downhill does sound appealing.
I really wish this better-battery stuff was here NOW. I'm positive I'll buy another Prius when this one dies or gets killed, but settling for another don't-use-EV-mode-excessively battery will suck. These batteries sound like one could be built that would go 20 miles on EV and just laugh as they recharge later. I wouldn't mind having one EV-only day every now and then. Until gasoline is outlawed, or they add rechargers to tow trucks to refill stranded electric cars. I'll be staying hybrid as best I can...
