The alarm went off 20 minutes ago, but you didn't hear it. Now you're running late. You rush out the door and jump inside your EV, which you plugged in last night. But there's a problem — it's not fully charged.
Lately, your EV is taking longer and longer to charge, and now you have to rearrange your day around a car that should have been charged hours ago. The problem lies in the batteries, which are made in a way that makes charging slower than necessary.
Researchers in Germany recently discovered a way to shake things up, making batteries charge faster and last longer.
According to Interesting Engineering, scientists at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin discovered that creating intentional defects inside battery materials actually boosts their performance.
"Targeted imperfection can be a powerful tool in material design," said professor Nicola Pinna.
In this case, they used a technique called controlled amorphisation, which introduces slight disorder to the battery's structure — enough to help ions move more freely without compromising stability.
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It's a shift from the traditional thinking that perfection equals performance. And the results speak for themselves. A new version of a sodium-ion battery based on this approach handled over 2,600 charge cycles while keeping its power and efficiency. That's nearly double what most lithium-ion batteries can manage. Plus, sodium is more available and less toxic to mine than lithium.
Dr. Patrícia Russo, a co-author on the study, said the discovery "opens up completely new avenues for more powerful, longer-lasting and therefore more sustainable high-performance batteries."
The team also worked with niobium-tungsten oxides and a new iron niobate material — both built to perform well even after years of use.
The findings, published in Nature Communications and Advanced Materials, show how this new strategy could apply to a wide range of battery types, not just sodium-ion. The idea is to stop forcing materials into rigid molds and instead work with a little built-in flexibility.
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They're not efficient enough ⚡ That kind of thinking is catching on. Other recent breakthroughs include EV batteries with plastic current collectors that reduce weight and improve safety, manganese-based batteries that avoid the need for cobalt, and updated sodium designs that reduce fire risk.
If you're already driving an EV, home solar panels can help you charge it for less. EnergySage lets you compare local solar quotes side-by-side. It's free, takes just minutes, and could save you thousands. The same solar setup can also help cut heating and cooling costs, especially when paired with electric appliances like heat pumps. Mitsubishi Electric makes finding the right one easier based on your home and budget.
Whether it's in the battery or the home charger, energy tech is moving fast, but sometimes the real progress comes from making things a little less perfect on purpose.
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