It’s Possible Tesla Might Start Using Algae-Powered Batteries

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It seems like just last week, we were telling you about how Tesla is now opening up their patents for free use. (It actually was just last week in case you weren’t paying attention.) They’re back in the headlines for what might be one of the stranger auto developments yet — using algae to power batteries.

Generally, I associate algae with literal pond scum and not the future of battery use. That could be changing because, scientist Adam Freeman thinks he might have found a way to use it for 200x the power of today’s current lithium-based battery. Mind Unleashed reports that Freeman has founded the company alGAS to develop this, believing that algae can charge faster and last longer than ion batteries used in cell phones and even power a Tesla motor. What makes this all possible Freeman said are the algae’s incredibly thin fiber walls that provide an easier surface for ions to pass through and create a charge.

Algae’s potential to theorhetically work as a charger has been proven — a French biochemist is already powering a streetlight with a seaweed ingredient — but what’s still unknown is how much of a charge would need to be created to power a car. Freeman hopes to have a working battery prototype ready by the end of the summer.

Considering that the materials needed to make the current lithium-based battery are becoming less abundant, powering one with something as readily produced as algae seems like a smart option to explore.

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