Researchers at Toyota and Tohuku University in northern Japan have announced progress in their efforts to extend the charge in the batteries of electric vehicles:

Existing lithium-ion batteries have a cathode that contains graphite and polycrystal lithium cobalt oxide with the graphite improving the performance of the cathode but also requiring space that could be theoretically used to store more lithium ions.

The researchers say it will take up to ten years to develop a cathode with no graphite and single crystals of lithium cobalt oxide but that the end result is a powerful battery for electric cars, which can store 10 times more electrical charge. As a result, electric cars could travel ten times farther than they can today.

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