Welcome to Charged Up, a blog exploring the advantages, disadvantages, and chemistry of avant-garde batteries. Specifically, we will explore those batteries that are likely to revolutionize the car industry in the near future.

The main focus of the blog will be lithium-ion batteries—why they are gaining so much popularity, how they work, and how they are going to be implemented in the near future. We will then touch on metal-air batteries, specifically lithium-air batteries because those seem to be the most practical, and flow batteries. In touching on these other batteries, we will note their advantages over lithium-ion batteries but also the reason they’re unlikely to overtake lithium-ion batteries. For example, my preliminary research on flow batteries has shown that they may be better suited for large-scale energy storage rather than use in cars. Finally, the blog will touch on the differences in advantages between these batteries and fuel cells, particularly in the feasibility of using them in mainstream cars. I hope you come along for the ride as I look at the batteries that will carry us into the future.

Image: https://goo.gl/UUkhkQ