A SMALL battery company backed by General Motors is working on breakthrough technology that could power an electric car more than 300km on a single charge in the next two-to-four years, GM’s CEO says.
Speaking at an employee meeting, CEO Dan Akerson said the company, Newark, California-based Envia Systems, has made a huge breakthrough in the amount of energy a lithium-ion battery can hold.
GM is sure that the battery will be able to take a car 100 miles (160km) within a couple of years, he said. It could be double that with some luck, he said.
“I think we’ve got better than a 50-50 chance,” Mr Akerson said, “to develop a car that will go to 200 miles (320km) on a charge,” he said. “That would be a game changer.”
GM’s current electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, goes about 56km on a charge and has a small petrol motor that generates power to keep the car going after that.
Few competitors have electric cars with more than 160km of range.
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