Forget long charging time, soon, six minutes of charging can last for 320 kilometers (198 miles), at least, if we are to believe Toshiba.

Toshiba’s next generation of SCiB (Rechargeable Battery for vehicle, industrial and infrastructure) will charge faster, handle lower temperatures with higher durability.

“This is not a small improvement, this changes the rules of the game,”

– Osamu Hori, Director-Corporate R&D at Toshiba

The technological progress of battery advancements is tangible. Not even the most daring analysts had been able to predict today’s technology level only five years ago.

With ever more resources into research and development, the progress shows no signs of slowing down. The Japanese company Toshiba has now announced in a press release that their next generation of lithium-ion batteries represents a significant step forward.

The battery technology developed by Toshiba will reduce charging time to six-minutes only, with a reach of 320 kilometers (198 miles) for a 32 kWh prototype battery.

It’s three times the capacity of today’s batteries. Furthermore, it is much less likely to experience lithium metal deposition during ultra-rapid recharging or even in cold conditions. Making it possible to ultra-rapid charging at very low temperatures, -10 degrees Celius (14˚ F).

According to Toshiba, the batteries will hold 90 percent of the original capacity even after 5,000 charging cycles — 14 years of recharge cycles at one per day.

“Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game-changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EVs.”

– Osamu Hori.

The cause of this breakthrough in battery technology is the improvement resulting from the use of an anode of titanium niobium oxide. This technology will contribute to a doubling of energy density compared with the graphite-based anodes that are in use today. Titanumnioboxid anodes should also be more durable.

This next-generation battery is the result of a proprietary method for synthesizing and disarranging crystals of titanium niobium oxide and storing lithium ions more efficiently in the crystal structure. Twice the energy density of Toshiba’s current SCiB

Rigorous testing of a 50Ah prototype of the new battery has confirmed that it retains the long life cycle, low-temperature operation, excellent safety and rapid recharging characteristics of the current SCiBTM. The energy density by volume of battery is twice that of the current SCiBTM. The next-generation SCiBTM maintains over 90% of its initial capacity after being put through 5,000 charge/discharge cycles, and ultra-rapid recharging can be done in cold conditions, with temperatures as low as minus 10°C, in only ten minutes.

Toshiba says that the battery specifications will now be polished further and the goal is for them to be on the market in 2019.

Reference:

Press Release: Toshiba Develops Next-Generation Lithium-ion Battery with New Anode Material