The company Better Place is liquidating, after a failed attempt to make electric cars with batteries to swap in and out. Problem is, e-vehicles are still expensive. And fossil fuel prices in the recent downturn have softened.
Prof. John Goodenough discovered the advance that made the lithium-ion battery — and the wireless world — possible. But now another breakthrough is needed.
The biggest barrier to renewable energy such as solar and wind is storing the electricity it generates. In a university laboratory, a scientist painstakingly re-imagines the battery.
Wangxiang Group, China's biggest auto-parts conglomerate, has offered $450 million for a controlling stake in a Massachusetts electric car batteries company.
