Currently available electric vehicles can travel approximately 200 kilometers on a single charge, but with the newly developed battery, this range could be increased to about 260 kilometers. NEC plans to put it into practical use within two years.
The short driving range of electric vehicles on a single charge has long been a bottleneck to their widespread adoption. Previously, the challenge was that increasing the voltage to increase energy storage would cause gas to build up inside the battery, thus shortening its lifespan.
NEC has successfully developed new electrode materials and electrolytes that do not produce gas even under high voltage, increasing energy storage capacity even without using rare materials such as cobalt in the electrodes. Therefore, the new battery's lifespan and manufacturing cost are almost identical to those of Nissan's LEAF electric vehicle battery, while its driving range can be increased by 30%.
