Better Place has one of the more unique ways of dealing with exhausted electric car batteries.  While it does offer charging stations which take quite a while to charge your battery, it also offers the option of simply switching it out.  A 100 car fleet of electric vehicles will now begin testing the infrastructure which stretches across Israel.

The California Energy Commission has created new standards for battery chargers that would go into effect in February of 2013. The new chargers would contain technology that would shut the charger off once a gadget was fully charged, reducing wasted energy.  That wasted energy is sometimes referred to as vampire draw.

Just about everyone knows that tossing light bulbs, especially CFLs, and batteries into the trash is a no-no.  Batteries and light bulbs have dangerous elements that need to be disposed of properly.  Throwing burned out CFL light bulbs in the trash can break them releasing dangerous mercury vapors that can damage you and your pets.  ReVend Recycling has come up with an easy way to dispose of all of that hazardous waste while giving you a little something in return.

Researchers at Northwestern University have been improving lithium ion batteries.  So far they have come up with vast improvements on the anode side.  Next they plan to tackle the cathode.

Harold Kung, professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, led the research which is published in Advanced Energy Materials.  The paper outlines their two major changes to battery technology.

Electronic device batteries in the future will be cheaper than current ones and have unique characteristics.  One battery being developed at Stanford is transparent meaning that at some point in the future you could have a transparent cell phone or tablet.  Meanwhile the University of Leeds has developed a battery that is highly flexible and configurable. 

Scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have developed a photocatalytic fuel cell that cleans waste water and generates electricity. Can’t beat a two for one deal!

Graphene is turning out to be a miracle substance for electronics and electric vehicles.  The latest use for graphene is in a new energy storage system that will enable charging electric vehicles (EVs) and plugin electric vehicles (PEVs) in less than a minute rather than hours as it does today.

Take pencil lead (graphite) separate it into one atom thick layers (graphene) add water and presto you have an amazing method for storing energy and recharging fast.  Of course there is a bit more to it but that is the gist of the research.

MIT associate professor Jeffrey Grossman had previously found out how expensive fulvalene diruthenium was able to store solar energy which led to this years discovery that carbon nanotubes combined with azobenzene work.  Not only do they work but they are much cheaper to produce and use.

One draw back of hybrids and electric vehicles is the weight and volume of the batteries necessary to run them. Rechargeable batteries, whether they are nickel metal hydride, lead acid or lithium ion, are all heavy.  When the battery packs finally die, the components must be disposed of carefully because they are toxic.  PolyZion batteries will be composed of plastic, zinc and electrolytes.  The new batteries will be lighter, more environmentally friendly, long lasting and safer to use.