[jr2]

New aluminum ion battery, charges in one minute, exceeds Li-ion performance in all areas except voltage and capacity (they are trying to get those up to par, hopefully they can).


http://mashable.com/2015/04/07/aluminum-battery-one-minute/

[Dragon]

The concept is not new, but it always had problems with low voltage. It still has them, though if they manage to figure it out, it might become viable as a replacement for Li-ions. This is not a revolution of any kind, just a new technology that is slowly being brought into viability. Though that's not to say I'm not glad it's starting to work out.

[Bobboau]

why can't you just stack a few of them in series to solve the voltage problem?

[Dragon]

It might not provide enough benefit over Li-ions just yet. Remember, aside from voltage, capacity is a problem that needs to be addressed. If you stack batteries in parallel, you'll end up with something that discharges ridiculously quickly (generally, multiple batteries are connected serially). Of course, you could add more battery stacks in a serial connection, but then you'd end up with a bulky, ungainly box. It seems that overall power density needs to go up a little before they're truly competitive, not only voltage.

[jr2]

The flexibility would make them good for those paper-types single page e-readers they keep teasing about.  And roll-up keyboards.