Long distances, short waiting times. Finding the perfect balance is not easy for battery manufacturers, but Toshiba has done an excellent job with its SCiB series. These batteries have been on the market for a decade and offer excellent performance. However, the Japanese giant announced a new variant that adopts a different material for its anode, and its high performance will allow the average compact car to achieve a range of 320 kilometers with an ultra-fast 6-minute charge.
The world of electric cars continues to move, although the latest news have not been very positive, to say the least. The confirmation that Tesla is experiencing production problems with its Model 3 (barely 260 units in three months) was basically a wake-up call, but Elon Musk and company hope to solve these details before the end of the year. That said, the standard version of the Model 3 has a range of 350 kilometers, with a recovery of 210 kilometers in 30 minutes using a supercharger. The numbers are not terrible, but they cannot be interpreted as something wonderful, and it is not a problem that affects exclusively Tesla. All manufacturers struggle to improve the performance of their electric cars, combat drivers' anxiety, and reduce charging time. That brings us to Toshiba, which presented a new generation of its SCiB batteries.
According to official information, Toshiba has managed to double the energy density of current SCiB batteries while maintaining the same volume, which translates into a range of 320 kilometers for a 32 kWh pack installed in a compact car. The best part is that the new SCiB only needs an ultra-fast 6-minute charge, while that same time in a conventional lithium-ion battery leaves it well below 100 kilometers. The key lies in the composition of the anode. Toshiba has had great success with lithium titanium oxide anodes, but now it's the turn of niobium titanium oxide. This change allows much more efficient storage of lithium ions without sacrificing stability.
After torturing one of its prototypes, Toshiba confirmed that the new SCiB battery retains 90 percent of its capacity after five thousand charge and discharge cycles, with minimal impact from climate (at a temperature of -10°C, fast charging extends to ten minutes). Needless to say, the batteries will need chargers that are up to the task, and if all goes well, Toshiba will begin commercialization in fiscal year 2019.
