Lithium Sulphur on the Road by 2013

One of the companies I invested in last year, Oxis Energy, has just announced publicly a partnership with e-Bike manufacturer Whisper Bikesthat should see Lithium Sulphur rechargeable batteries hit the roads & be available for the public to buy for the first time in 2013.

You can find the full press release here.

The quick version of the news is that e-Bikes will be available with ~50% better range than currently available, or be far lighter and more portable … or a bit of both. Lithium Sulphur rechargeable batteries have been under development for many years but Oxis appears to be the first company likely to make their technology fit for public use in the near future, with prototype bikes being tested next year.

Oxis Energy’s Lithium Sulphur rechargeable batteries are extremely safe (even safer than current batteries used in electric vehicles) and far less polluting. Their only drawback, for now, is the limited number of full charge cycles the batteries can go through before losing a significant amount of performance. However, the currently available 300-350 cycles is fine for bicycles and likely to improve with further research and development.

Oxis believes it will eventually achieve 4-5 times the range of current electric vehicles which will eliminate ‘range anxiety’ and make them a really viable alternative to petrol or diesel powered cars. Perhaps then even Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear will finally admit that electric cars are the future!