Intelligent Energy Holdings PLC is a UK-based company that hit public awareness when they harnessed the power of hydrogen to fuel London’s famous black cabs. Now they’re back with an announcement, saying that they are working on studies that will put the same technology – hydrogen-powered fuel cells – in your smartphone battery, giving it as much as 7 days of up time.
The British company said that an emerging smartphone manufacturer has partnered with them to develop a fuel cell small enough to fit in a smartphone’s relatively tiny form factor. The said company has put in USD$7.6 million in capital to fund the said project, but IEH is not willing to name the company just yet.
IEH’s technology basically converts hydrogen into electricity, leaving only water vapor as a byproduct. It’s being used more and more at a bigger scale to reduce emissions and ensure electricity supply. But the question is, would IEH be able to bring this technology to the level of tiny smartphone form factors? “Embedding fuel-cell technology into portable devices provides a solution to the current dilemma of battery life,” says Julian Hughes, acting managing director for Intelligent Energy’s Consumer Electronics. “With consumers demanding more and more from their phones, battery innovation has not kept up.”
All things being what they are, a fuel-cell powered phone could be available in the market in as little as two years, if the partnership goes to plan. But imagine that – not having to charge your phone at the end of the day. Even the thought of it sounds so fantastic up to this point. Let’s hope tech like this makes it to market soon.
VIA: Bloomberg
