Stanford researchers have come up with a battery that seems to fit all of the requirements for today’s needs:

– low cost – it’s made from urea, which is contained in urine and many other easily obtainable sources

– inflammable – the materials will not burn, which is a major advantage over lithium ion batteries

– quick charge – the battery can charge in under an hour

– efficient – The battery has a Coulombic efficiency rating of – 99.7 percent. (Coulombic efficiency is a measurement of how much charge exits the battery per unit of charge that it takes in during charging.)

The battery was developed at Stanford University by a team lead by chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai, who explained, “So essentially, what you have is a battery made with some of the cheapest and most abundant materials you can find on Earth. And it actually has good performance. Who would have thought you could take graphite, aluminum, urea, and actually make a battery that can cycle for a pretty long time?”

 Dai’s team was the first to make a rechargeable aluminum battery, in 2015.  This version is about 100 times cheaper than the 2015 model, with higher efficiency and a charging time of 45 minutes.

The group has licensed the battery patents to AB Systems, so there is a chance of getting the battery into the marketplace sometime soon.  Maybe Elon can make these at his Giga factory!

See more about this here.