Would be nice- 100x faster charging for Lithium Ion batteries thanks to new research

An interesting read - http://vr-zone.com/articles/100x-faster-charging-for-lithium-ion-batteries-/17008.html

Looks like you lose a small amount of capacity for a massive gain in charging times.

100 times faster? that would mean a 2 minute charge :open_mouth:

Anybody know how power tools charge so quickly compared to an 18650 etc?

They use either LiFePO4 cells (which can be charged at up to 4C - resulting in 15 minute charge), by the way those cells exist in 18650 format too - e.g. A123Systems APR18650M1A, or they use LiMn cells, which can be charged at up to 2C - resulting in 30 minute charge, but they have higher capacity than LiFePO4.

Ok thanks, that makes sense.

100x faster=100x higher current.
50-100A chargers for home use? :~ Just forget it.

These is useful only for special cases and with special charging equipment

100x higher current = 30C (as current Li-Ion’s have recommended rate of 0.3C)
30C for 500mAh cell (typical in mp3 players) = 15A
15A at 4V = 60W, quite possible solution.

Not really 100*4.2=420 watts/120 volts=3.5 amp draw from an outlet. I think you average outlet can handle that.

Average outlets have no problems handling even 10A… but imagine how huge power brick would have to be in order to supply 420W to a laptop. Hell, even Dell’s 200W brick for Alienware laptops is monstrous, and it’s not even half of that :stuck_out_tongue:

Problem is at the low voltage side. :wink: