Lithium-Ion Battery (Photo : Reuters)
From the search engine to its Android operating system, Google is now looking to secretly dominate the battery business by developing its own solid-state battery that is much longer-lasting than the ones that currently exist.
The search engine giant's own sneaky Google X Research Labs is reportedly working on not one, but several advanced battery technologies that will be focused on consumer products such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Google's Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj from its research lab is leading the project, which aims to improve today's lithium-ion batteries and make solid-state ones, Slash Gear reported. The Google battery would be a revolutionary piece of technology if they would be able to achieve it, much like the introduction of solid-state drives which wowed PC enthusiasts with its significantly improved speed and durability over the old mechanical hard drives.
Dr. Bhardwaj started testing batteries from other companies for Google's projects in 2012. After a year, the Google X research team started to brainstorm on a Google battery.
There are at least 20 Google projects that are dependent on battery use, including the tech giant's self-driving car and the previous Google Glass, which was ridiculed because of its absurdly short battery life. Even a medical project that aims to use nanoparticles to diagnose diseases in humans rely on batteries.
Foundation 8 Hardware Strategy Head Lior Susan said that Google's move to expand into the battery business is common sense as their projects really require better batteries such as its car and drones.
Google is not the only one seeking to make a giant leap in the battery business. Apple, IBM and Tesla Motors all tried to develop longer-lasting batteries, but only managed to produce small improvements, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Moreover, Google's solid-state batteries are expected to be much safer for heavy everyday use. Solid electrodes in Google batteries would allow it to be implanted in humans for medical purposes such as for a pacemaker, which needs to be replaced every few years or so because of its battery life.
