UK company Oxis Energy is planning to shake up the electric transportation industry with a newly developed lithium sulfur battery. The new technology apparently provides five times the energy density of a conventional Li-Ion battery, as well as being lighter and safer. The company is pushing for its battery to be used in applications where weight is a key factor – such as electric aircraft. This is not pie in the sky stuff either. Back in July the company announced an agreement with Brazilian company Texas Aircraft to help develop a new two seater electric training plane called the e-Colt.
The key thing about the sleek new craft is the fact that with the lighter, more energy packed lithium sulfur battery the plane should have a two hour flight time and a range of 200 nautical miles. This is mostly due to the fact that the batteries will be 40% lighter than typical Li-ion. Which sounds pretty impressive. We’ll have to wait and see just how impactful this technology is, but the early signs are very promising.
Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don’t we all?
Nigel – who has written 6620 posts on The Red Ferret Journal.