Mercedes-Benz makes organic battery breakthrough
Car-maker's next-gen batteries are so eco-friendly they're compostable, but sadly they're still 15 years awayGround-breaking environmentally-friendly organic batteries are under development by Mercedes-Benz but they could be still 15 years away from mass production.
First previewed by the wild Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR concept unveiled at CES in January, the new organic batteries are said to be graphene-based, using organic cell chemistry with a water-based electrolyte.
That means they don't use any rare metals or anything toxic and can biodegrade without polluting the environment.
Speaking to
, head of Mercedes-Benz battery tech Andreas Hintennach said: "It’s a very promising technology. I’ve already seen it working in laboratories, where the results look really good, but we don’t see that it’s close to being used in production technology for now. It’s around 15-20 years away.”The advantage of the new tech is the organic batteries are said have exponentially high energy density and can be charged far quicker than current cells.
According to one source, speaking to carsales, the next-gen batteries can be fully charged in just 15 minutes and are so advanced that Benz's battery partner is now testing them outside of the lab.
In fact, the battery supplier is so confident of its lack of toxicity that it's rumoured to have given a full-working prototype organic battery pack to a senior Daimler board member to put on his compost heap for use on his beloved garden.
According to Hintennach, before the next-gen organic batteries arrive, Mercedes will concentrate its efforts on improving the efficiency of traditional lithium-ion batteries that, in his estimation, could provide up to 25 per cent more range than they do currently.
Solid-state batteries, meanwhile, could be introduced within five to 15 years, but are "not a magic solution," he warned.
“Solid-state adds lots of positive aspects. It’s not a miracle but would be a huge step forward.”
The biggest problem with solid-state cells, says Benz' battery boss, is their long charging times.
Other tech being considered by the car-maker includes using lithium-metal anodes, lithium-sulphur and lithium-oxygen batteries. All have different benefits and drawbacks, says Hinnentach.
Lithium-sulphur batteries, for example, are said to be significantly lighter than lithium-ion cells.
In the future, Mercedes-Benz will continue to take R&D risks by investigating multiple new battery technology, says Hinnentach.
"You do risk inefficiency by looking at multiple options, and not all will make it to market, but if you didn’t take risks in R&D by backing multiple horses, then you could end up losing. We’re also keeping the pipeline open for the future."
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