The dawning of the battery era!

I remember the first batteries I saw when I was a kid. The first ones were a 4.5 volt battery that my family used to power a small portable lamp, and later our family transistor radio. I remembered as a kid linking the two brass blades with my tongue to feel the miracle of electrical current! 

I also had seen car batteries when an open hood exposed them, but that was about it. Never did I envisioned that I would see a day when watches, radios, telephones, hearing-aids, drills, chain-saws, lawn-mowers or automobiles would all become ubiquitous battery-powered objects. 

This extra source of electric power made of electro-chemical cells have evolved over the years as their use expended into a growing number of applications. From disposable to rechargeable versions, chemical and engineering development have played a huge role in increased performance, size and capacity. 

It all began with the lead-acid batteries still mostly used in vehicles, to today’s lithium-ion batteries used for all kind of portable electronics, tools, phones, computers, drones and now automobiles. Yet, over the last decade that same surge in lithium-ion battery production has led to an 85% decline in prices, making electric vehicles and energy storage commercially viable for the first time in history. 

At this rate, batteries hold the key to transitioning humanity away from fossil fuel dependence as they’re set to play a greater role in the coming decade. Energy storage, in way we don’t yet see or imagine is poised to grow exponentially in the next decades, and this will affect chemical companies, battery cell makers, car companies, solar companies and utility companies. We’ve indeed come a long way from the lone 4.5 volt battery of my youth!