New lithium battery to make electric cars cheaper

New York, Nov 3: Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had developed a new lithium battery that triples the driving range of an electric vehicle and thereby cutting down its maintenance costs. The battery is ready for mass production in a year's time. The new battery can also operate safely at varying temperatures. Qichao Hu, who developed the battery along with former professor and battery expert Donald Sadoway at MIT, said the battery will double the running life of a laptop or even a smartphone. At present, batteries in electric cars can account for at least 30 percent of the sticker price. Hu said the batteries need systems that control temperatures to stop them from catching fire or overheating. Sadoway, meanwhile, said the current showroom price of electric cars are hovering around $130,000. This should be brought down to $30,000. The reason for the high cost is the battery, which is very expensive and it runs down too fast. The new battery is expected to be at least 20 percent cheaper than the current ones. Hu expects the battery to be in production during the first half of 2016 and be available for electric cars by the second half.