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I've heard that whatever you do, it's hardly impossible to make better batteries because you can't fill matter with more electrons than with lithium.

• Blammar 5y ago
  That's an interesting comment that might explain why we are using lithium instead of some other metal. Do you have a reference that discusses this?
  • Gibbon1 5y ago
    Last time I looked what I read was lithium doesn't change size when it gains or loses and electron. Other metals the ions change size which damages the electrodes.
  • jokoon 5y ago
    Heard that from an energy consultant, Jean Marc Jancovici, in his numerous interventions and conferences.
• gameswithgo 5y ago
  Yet batteries have steadily gotten better even since the introduction of lithium.
• flavius29663 5y ago
  Really? If that is the limiting factor, then there is a lot of hope, because lithium is a tiny portion of a battery weight and volume, something like 1%. It means we could theoretically improve the batteries to hold say 30% lithium, for a 30x improvement in density!
• tass 5y ago
  You have to choose your trade offs. Aluminium is abundant compared to lithium, and if the charging times are as good as they’re saying it might be worth the loss of capacity.
• jim90 5y ago
  I guess that would be the case if the battery was 100% lithium. But they are not (and cannot be) If I remember correctly the issue with increasing density in lithium batteries is their propensity to catch fire + explode (due to dendrites forming between lithium plates) So a better battery tech might have a material that can store less electrons per m3 within the "active" material - but it can contain 30% more.