Toshiba has developed its next-generation SCiB fast charging lithium-ion battery which uses a new material to double the capacity of the battery anode, offering high-energy density and the ultra-rapid recharging required for automotive applications.

The new battery will give a compact electric vehicle (EV) with a drive range of 320km after only six minutes of ultra-rapid recharging - three times the distance possible with current lithium-ion batteries, according to Toshiba.

The new battery also offers high energy density and ultra-rapid recharging characteristics, and its titanium niobium oxide anode is much less likely to experience lithium metal deposition during ultra-rapid recharging or recharging in cold conditions -a cause of battery degradation and internal short circuiting.

Toshiba's current SCiB employs a lithium titanium oxide anode, and is known for excellent operating characteristics in respect of safety, long life and rapid charging. It has found wide use in vehicles and industrial and infrastructure applications, including automobiles, buses, railroad cars, elevators and power plants. Building on this heritage, Toshiba has developed a proprietary method for synthesizing and disarranging crystals of titanium niobium oxide and storing lithium ions more efficiently in the crystal structure. The anode of the next-generation SCiB realized through this approach has double times the capacity of the anode of current lithium-ion batteries.

"Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EV. We will continue to improve the battery's performance and aim to put the next-generation SCiB into practical application in fiscal year 2019," said Dr. Osamu Hori, Director of Corporate Research & Development Center at Toshiba Corporation.

Toshiba says that testing of a 50Ah prototype of the new battery has confirmed that it retains the long life cycle, low-temperature operation, excellent safety and rapid recharging characteristics of the current SCiB. The energy density by volume of battery is twice that of the current SCiB. The new SCiB maintains over 90% of its initial capacity after being put through 5,000 charge/discharge cycles, and ultra-rapid recharging can be done in cold conditions, with temperatures as low as minus 10°C, in only ten minutes.

Toshiba aims to commercialize the next-generation SCiB in fiscal year 2019.