Originally Posted by davymac

Iron ion batteries.....

https://youtu.be/UDjgSSO98VI

Ah jasus Davy, will yer have a word with yerself!

Looks like a great technology for grid storage, but reading between the lines, I reckon that ability to discharge over 100 hours rather than the 4 hours suggested for Lithium also suggest a very low C rating. So certainly not relevant to our hobby, or EV's, but looking good for the grid.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

Ah jasus Davy, will yer have a word with yerself!

Looks like a great technology for grid storage, but reading between the lines, I reckon that ability to discharge over 100 hours rather than the 4 hours suggested for Lithium also suggest a very low C rating. So certainly not relevant to our hobby, or EV's, but looking good for the grid.

Probably not
It appears to have a much lower voltage per cell than Li-ion or Li-Po. Could be interesting for large RC boats that can carry a decent number of cells though, if they can shrink the cell size.

CATL claims to have made sodium-ion batteries a commercial reality

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/07/...rcial-reality/

CATL introduces first-gen sodium-ion battery and AB lithium-sodium pack

https://electrek.co/2021/07/29/catl-...m-sodium-pack/

https://www.golem.de/news/akkutechni...b-global-de-DE

Buckle your safety belts, things are about to get weird.

A Quantum Battery That Never Runs Out (10 min 17 sec)

Originally Posted by kavic5150

Buckle your safety belts, things are about to get weird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fM4e0cx5zU

Oh look, a ZPM.

ULTRA Stable SOLID STATE Battery - [2021] (6 min 33 sec)

Was just about to post that. ^

At least we seem to be beginning to see a little divergence in emerging battery tech, with things like sodium ion perhaps better suited to grid storage or less weight-critical EV use, but we have yet to see significantly greater specific energy density than is currently achieved with Lithium.

Will always have exciting failures. Be VERY CRITICAL about starting up & shutting down of not perfect batteries on assembly lines............ Which are sold off to vendors very cheaply.

One problem is that it takes ages for any new battery technology to filter down to us. Think about it - what developments have you seen in your own time in the hobby? I started flying electric helis with LiPo batteries. HV packs were introduced, but they only seem to be widely used in camera quads, where flight time is important. Graphene packs are able to cope with higher C and also last longer, but if anything they are heavier, with slightly reduced power density.

Realistically, our best hope is that some cylindrical cells become available, and even at the present time, cylindrical LiIon cells offer the highest specific power density, albeit with only a moderate C rating. It's possible that an improved battery chemistry can still use the tooling in existing plants to make higher performing cylindrical packs, and there would be a greater chance of those cells being available to us.

Not going to happen.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

One problem is that it takes ages for any new battery technology to filter down to us.

A lot of it because, in our hobby and basically every other area/industry, everyone constantly rants that they want new better tech and are willing to pay more money.

New tech comes out .1% pay more for the new better tech. 99.9% keep buying the absolute cheapest budget knockoffs and then complain about how much that costs.

I don't think that's necessarily true. In fact I would suggest that there has been a history of inflated performance claims from "premium" battery suppliers, but over time people have discovered that you get more bang for the buck from brands like Turnigy or CNHL. I find it odd that LiPoHV hasn't been more widely adopted, since it offers a few percent greater energy density, but the reality is that most RC'ers, whether flying planks or helis or driving RC cars, probably wouldn't notice a 10% improvement. Oddly enough, the camera drone sector seems to be at the leading edge of RC battery efficiency.

@cyclops2 - you seem to be missing the point. All the battery makers would welcome advances that allow them to use their existing production methods and machinery. For example, CATL sodium ion cells can be made using equipment used to make current LiIon cells. The problem is that altho cheaper, and potentially offering more cycles, the power density is a bit lower than LiPo. Whilst no battery maker is going to invest a fortune in developing batteries for the hobby market, cylindrical cells are ubiquitous in all manner of mass market consumer devices - flashlights, vaping machines, e-bikes, laptops, cordless power tools and so on, so any improvements to those cells can easily benefit us in the RC hobby.

One of the biggest issues in battery development seems to be that the more energy dense the chemistry is, the more volatile it is.

I do think that the way things are developing that a new technology will make it through to users quicker than in the past though.
With the number of both consumer and professional cordless tolls that are being sold, companies will want to get any battery technology that gives them an edge over the competition out as quickly as possible.
That should trickle down for other uses quite quickly as long as it's not someone like Apple or Dyson that develop the technology

They do not need more money spent on how to fight a LIPO fire in a basement.

All my planes do not need the the most powerful batteries in the world.