At the risk of oversimplifying, the reason the vast majority of cars on the road today run on gasoline is a simple matter of energy density. That is, gasoline packs a lot of power into a small space.

Batteries, at this point in time, don’t have the energy density of gasoline. While automakers can now produce electric cars that provide the same comfort and safety of gasoline-powered cars, they simply can’t go as far on a full tank. That’s fine for a daily commuter car, but for people who need to occasionally travel longer distances, an EV may not be a practical option.

Researchers at IBM are attempting to solve this problem by increasing the energy density of batteries, with a goal of producing an electric car capable of traveling 500 miles on a single charge. EnergyNOW has the story:

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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