Tokyo, Japan, October 3 — Toshiba develops a new battery that can increase the range of electric vehicles (EV) up to ~200 miles (320 km) and is charged in only 6 minutes. While the range is not superior to current EV batteries, the charging time beats Tesla’s Model 3 (215 miles capacity charged in 5-6 hours) as well as the Chevy Bolt EV (238 miles capacity charged in 1.3 hours).
Whoever will put these batteries in their EVs, they are likely to disrupt the market in the future by improving the effective travel speed. Next to the range, the charging speed is one of the most disputed aspects of EVs and could help to be more competitive with cars that run on fossil fuels.
Toshiba builds next-gen SCiB battery
The acronym SCiB stands for Super Charge Ion Battery, and their latest model has been developed to double the capacity of the battery by making use of new anode material titanium niobium oxide.
Prototype of 50Ah next-generation SCiB (111mm x 194mm x 14.5mm)
This material is a lot less likely to experience lithium metal deposition while the battery is in a rapid charging state or in cold conditions, therefore less likely to degrade over time or experience internal short-circuiting.
A good EV battery for cooler areas?
The next generation SCiB has a lifetime of approximately 15,000 charging cycles and still has about 90% of the original capacity after 5,000 charges. As the testing of the 50Ah prototype showed good results even in low-temperature environments (14°F/-10°C) or, this kind of battery could be even interesting for colder areas of the planet. Not every battery works well in cold environments.
Leadership insight
“We are very excited by the potential of the new titanium niobium oxide anode and the next-generation SCiB,” said Dr. Osamu Hori, Director of Corporate Research & Development Center at Toshiba Corporation. “Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game-changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EVs.”
Next steps
Toshiba said to continue developing energy solutions to offer better products in the future. They are targeting the fiscal year 2019 to commercialize the next generation of the SCiB. Parts of the research was subsidized by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
YouTube: Toshiba: The Rechargeable Battery, SCiB
Photo credit: Toshiba / Christopher Isak (TechAcute)
Source: Toshiba press release
Editorial notice: The feature image represents a random electric vehicle and does not relate to Toshiba batteries.
