Lithium-ion batteries have been around since the 1980s, with their major technology relatively unchanged. Their use however, has expanded exponentially, particularly in the age of electric vehicles. Tesla, Nissan, GM and others rely heavily on Lithium-ion battery systems for their hybrid and fully EV vehicles. One of the major hurdles cited for EV adoption is the driving range possible between charges.
The major focus and holy grail of battery tech research has been how do we enhance storage capacity without either increasing the weight to untenable levels, or more importantly, introducing serious safety risks with less stable elements reacting. The more storage an element has, the more potentially catastrophic the outcomes in the event of failure.
Research has focused on silicon anode technology, which can store 10x the atoms on a per mass basis than graphite. The issue has been that silicon has a tendency to expand (up to 3x) during internal battery reactions, making it too unstable and unsafe to use. New tech appears to be able to control for expansion, which would reduce the risks and allow for massive leaps forward in batteries and battery storage.
However, as we mentioned, the more storage an element has, the more potentially catastrophic the outcomes in the event of failure. Silicon anode failure could cause thermal runaway events and fires even more severe than those we already see with lithium-ion failure. This tech has not been extensively tested real world as of writing, so we will have to see if the engineering holds, but if it does, battery storage and EV functionality would be absolutely enhanced.
We wrote an article for Oil & Energy Magazine's January edition going into some of the specifics on the new tech advances, and its potential hurdles. You can read that article here: Major Breakthrough In Lithium-Ion Batteries
