Google Inc Enters Battery Arms Race

Google has jumped on the bandwagon of working on battery technology. BFN looks into the details.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has entered the race for better battery technology through its research laboratory, Google X, to boost its expansion into the electronics divisions, WSJ reported.

A former Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) battery adept, Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj, headed a team that initiated a test on batteries, which were manufactured by other companies, for devices of Google in 2012. After a year, the group furthered their research in batteries that can aid the company in developing batteries, as per the people close to the matter. However, a spokesperson of Google refused to comment on the matter or present Dr. Bhardwaj for a statement.

In recent years, the California-based tech giant has entered industries like transportation, robotics, healthcare, and communication, producing electronics devices that need proficient batteries. In 2013, CEO Larry Page stated to WSJ analysts that one of the major issues for smartphones is their battery life and there is a “real potential to invent new and better experiences.”

According to Dr. Bhardwaj, Google is working on a minimum of 20 battery projects. Furthermore, the tech giant’s latest invention is self-driving vehicles that operate on rechargeable batteries. The first model of Google Glass, an eyewear that can be connected with the internet, struggled after its official launch last year, due to short battery life. The company has been determined to enhance the battery life of other products like Google Glass.

Google enters the list of tech companies, like (NASDAQ:TSLA), International Business Machine Corp. (NYSE:IBM), and Apple, that are on a quest to create better batteries. These struggles have resulted in marginal improvements, which is so unlike tech companies that are familiar with consistent, dawdling developments in semiconductors efficiency.

Dr. Bhardwaj’s team is putting a lot of efforts upgrade existing thin-film, solid-state, and lithium-ion batteries for Google’s consumer electronics, including Google Glass and tech giant’s contact lenses used to measure blood glucose level, according to sources.

In February, Mr. Bhardwaj presented at a conference and he explained the uses of thin-film, solid-state batteries in cellphones and other electronic devices.

For wearable gadgets such as Google Glass, the technology could aid in running energy-intensive features. For the contact lenses, the batteries are safer since they do not use the flammable-electrolyte liquid.

Other groups at Google X are working with a battery designer and manufacturer, AllCell Technologies LLC, on more powerful batteries for some electronics projects, such as Project Loon.

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