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Dec 7, 2017

12/07/2017: Why battery technology is so hard to perfect

Battery technology is hard. We need batteries that last longer, charge faster and take up less space. And that’s important when it comes to not just our devices, but also renewable energy, electric cars and electrical grids. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Kristin Persson, an engineer who works in a lab funded by the Department of Energy, about why lithium-ion batteries can’t get much better and what the next battery looks like.

To make lithium-ion batteries better, you have to invent new materials, says Kristin Persson of UC Berkeley.
To make lithium-ion batteries better, you have to invent new materials, says Kristin Persson of UC Berkeley.
David Becker/Getty Images

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Segments From This Episode

Battery technology is hard. We need batteries that last longer, charge faster and take up less space. And that’s important when it comes to not just our devices, but also renewable energy, electric cars and electrical grids. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Kristin Persson, an engineer who works in a lab funded by the Department of Energy, about why lithium-ion batteries can’t get much better and what the next battery looks like.

12/07/2017: Why battery technology is so hard to perfect