Panel sees limits to fast-rising battery sector

The multi-billion dollar battery industry is poised for huge growth. But lithium ion, today’s fast rising technology, faces significant limits and a race is on to find better chemistries.

That was the conclusion of a panel of experts at a Silicon Valley gathering of investors Tuesday evening (April 13) sponsored by Silicom Ventures.

Lithium ion makes up about $10 billion of the $50 billion worldwide market for batteries today, but “every link in the whole value chain needs to scale up by three orders of magnitude,” said Mark Platshon, a partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners (San Bruno, Calif.) that has investments in electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors, battery recycler Better Place and other battery companies.

[Source & read more: EE Times]

Tags: Silicon Valley