Battery technology has been kind of the Achilles heel of the tech revolution. Relatively speaking, current batteries don’t store very much energy, and the long recharging time is one thing that has made electric cars hard for consumers to swallow. It takes hundreds of pounds of batteries to store the same amount of energy found in a few gallons of gas, and recharging the battery pack typically takes eight hours or more. Add to that the fact that batteries are expensive and tend to wear out after three or four years and you have a big problem. Besides affecting electric cars, it affects hybrid cars, plug in hybrids and even things like laptops and portable power tools.

Now there is a new battery technology that may be able to solve some of these problems. The batteries are made by A123 Systems. The new batteries use phosphate nanoparticles inside lithium ion-like batteries to gain several big advantages. First, the batteries can recharge very quickly – in just a few minutes. Second, the batteries last a long time – up to a decade. Third, they are less heat-sensitive than normal lithium ion cells.

If you go to killacycle.com you can read about an application of the new batteries and see a video. The funniest thing about the video, if you have ever been to an actual drag race, is the lack of noise.

Is it perfect? No. It still takes 161 pounds of batteries to store 7.5 KWH of electricity. But we are getting closer.