New 'lithium-air' batteries could be 10x more powerful, 5x cheaper

Most electric cars — save the Tesla Model S and Model X — are limited to an 80- to 100-mile range

While many factors contribute to their limited range, the main factors that hold back EVs from traveling as far as gasoline-powered vehicles are lithium-ion battery energy density, weight and cost. However, that may change soon, thanks to lithium-oxygen batteries.

Researchers at University of Cambridge in the UK have created a laboratory demonstration of lithium-oxygen, or "lithium-air," batteries that have around 10 times the energy density of the lithium-ion batteries used in today's EVs — roughly equivalent to the energy density of gasoline, according to a study in the latest edition of the journal Science. Read more...