Hyperdrive
How Batteries Went From Primitive Power to Global Domination
The technology that’s been in our pocket for decades has moved into cars—and that’s just the start.
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For an energy source that's been around for three decades, the lithium-ion battery is only just hitting its stride.
It’s worked its way up from primitive cellular phones to cameras and laptops before entering everyone’s pockets inside smartphones. But only now that the electric car has arrived is this energy storage system truly taking off. The latest proof: The electric-vehicle boom, which still in its early days, has already replaced gadgets as the world’s biggest source of lithium-ion battery demand.