Electrolytes made from liquefied gas enable batteries to run at ultra-low temperatures

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a breakthrough in electrolyte chemistry that enables lithium batteries to run at temperatures as low as -60 degrees Celsius with excellent performance—in comparison, today's lithium-ion batteries stop working at -20 degrees Celsius. The new electrolytes also enable electrochemical capacitors to run as low as -80 degrees Celsius—their current low temperature limit is -40 degrees Celsius. While the technology enables ex