I find articles about research and development endlessly interesting. Recently I read an article about research on developing a new rechargeable battery to power electronic products and vehicles (Kelion, 4/17/2013).
The Kelion article reports on progress in making batteries that will have the energy storage capacity of current batteries, but will be only 1/10 the size. If the new batteries are made the same size as current batteries, they can hold ten times the energy. The new batteries also can be recharged much faster than conventional rechargeable batteries. This research and development work is being done by a research team at the University of Illinois. The article indicates that the research team expects to have the technology ready to try out by the end of 2013.