What does the future hold for batteries?

There’s no denying the importance of batteries in modern society. Think about it: all those phones, gadgets, appliances, and even emergency systems that our day-to-day lives can’t go without – they all run on some form of battery.

What would we do without them? The list of items that use batteries is almost endless. They provide us with the on-the-go energy that our must-have items need. So when you think of it like that, you’ll see that it’s the batteries that are the thing of convenience, and not the gadget itself.

Let’s think about phones

Phones are something that almost everyone uses at multiple times during the day: texting, calling, streaming, internet-surfing, capturing, recording, tweeting… you probably see where we’re going with this, can’t you?

We’ll say it anyway: a lot of people say they couldn’t live without their phone, but you wouldn’t catch many people saying the same thing about batteries, despite their necessity to phones and all modern and portable technology. All pieces of tech have a battery, whether you can see it or not and whether you think about it or not.

However, putting your phone on charge to boost that battery power is something we do all think about, so much so that we almost do it automatically. Whether it’s something you do as soon as you get into work or something you do when you go to bed, charging our phones has become a necessary part of our day-to-day regime.

So, what does the future hold for batteries?

Well, the fact that batteries hold the power (quite literally) for our everyday techno-essentials makes it seem like it would be difficult to improve them further in the future, however batteries do have their limitations.

And those are? Battery power and battery size.

More power

As we’ve already mentioned, charging our phones is part of our day-to-day lives – but what happens if it doesn’t have to be a day-to-day thing? What happens if battery life improved so we don’t have to plug our phone or laptop in as frequently?

Given the fact that most phones nowadays have so many features and hold so much data, it’s fair to say that battery power on phones has had to make some sacrifices. However, batteries are deemed for a future of even higher durability – the question is how much more durability.

More adaptable

Then there’s the matter of size. As it advances, technology is becoming smaller and thinner. Its progression is based on practicality and convenience, and bulky laptops and accessories own neither of those qualities. This is why batteries need to become far more adaptable in size, and in material too. But that’s not to say they haven’t started to progress…

Progress of batteries over the years

Batteries have had to adapt alongside major advances in modern technology, so there’s no doubt that batteries and battery technology have progressed and improved massively from their origins, including in terms of aesthetics and power.

We can give the example of phones again – that handheld mobile device has transformed from a handset the size of a head to a thin, touch-screen device that has almost everything at the click of a button. Comparing the size of the two phones, you can imagine the difference in battery size.

The same goes for laptops. As time has gone on, laptops are beginning to get thinner and more compact, and their chargers are beginning to get smaller and smaller. But there’s no stopping us when it comes to tech.

Given their importance, in fact, their necessity to modern tech, batteries have a bright future of progression without doubt. Soon you’ll be able to say goodbye to your nightly charge-ups and heavy power supplies, and say hello to endless power and bendy, stretchy and malleable batteries. Watch this space!