Google X research is trying to make better lithium-ion and solid-state batteries for use in consumer electronics. The four person team is being led by Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj who is a former Apple battery expert and they started testing batteries used in Google’s devices back in 2012. They are now looking into battery technologies that Google could develop on their own for use in their consumer electronics. It’s very likely that if Google succeeds in making better batteries they won’t be shy in licensing the tech to others. With Google’s expansion into consumer markets that require battery usage such as self driving cars, Android devices, robotics and other ventures it makes sense that they would try and develop batteries that can fuel that technology.
Dr. Bhardwaj has told industry executives that Google has at least 20 battery-dependent projects. The company’s latest self-driving car runs on batteries recharged by electricity. The first version of Google’s Glass Internet-connected eyewear suffered from short battery life, which the company hopes to improve. An effort to use nanoparticles to diagnose diseases relies on a small battery-powered monitoring device.
With the deep pockets that Google has it is nice to see them investing into projects like these. While there are certain benefits to self, there are equal benefits to many others. Developing better batteries that last longer, have less impact on the environment and help fuel our devices more efficiently is a great task to take up. What do you think about Google X’s battery research efforts? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
[button link=”http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-gets-into-battery-arms-race-1428694613?mod=rss_whats_news_us” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: WSJ[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
