Dyson Sets Out To Double Battery Life With £10m Tech Investment

British vacuum company Dyson has invested $15 million (£10.14 million) in a new kind of smartphone battery which is said to be able to last twice as long as batteries today.

The technology was developed by the battery-tech start-up Sakti3, and unlike today’s liquid-based lithium batteries, this is a solid-state technology that can store twice as much energy.

Dyson has entered into a joint development agreement to commercialise the battery, one of the major components to today’s mobile technology and one of the biggest obstructers to further progress.

Portable and cordless technologies of today have progressed dramatically in the past 30 years, and they have all relied on the liquid-based lithium batteries, which have stayed almost unchanged since Sony first introduced them in 1991.

However, batteries have failed to keep up with other technologies, forcing manufacturers to choose between thinner and longer lasting devices. With the changes in this technology, we might see an iPhone 8 last longer than a day on a single charge.

“Sakti3 has achieved leaps in performance, which current battery technology simply can’t,” said company founder James Dyson, The Guardian reports. “It’s these fundamental technologies – batteries, motors – that allow machines to work properly.”

Ann Marie Sastry, founder and chief executive of Sakti3, said that the agreement with Dyson will allow the company to bring its technology to the mass market.

“There is a great deal of knowledge and passion on both sides, and Dyson’s engineering team has the capability and the track record to scale up new ideas and make them a commercial reality,” she said.