Global demand for batteries has never been higher than it is now, and a new report has claimed that demand will only increase in the near future. Experts are now estimating 7.7 percent annual growth through 2019 for the battery industry, thanks largely to the huge growing demand for high-drain devices in China->ke2090 and India->ke3066. Increases in household income in these countries has meant far more smartphones, laptops and tablets being sold, all of which need batteries. Sales of hybrids->ke147 and electric cars->ke1030 in North America and Western Europe->ke139 are also factor in the increased demand.

Although cars aren't the biggest part of the demand for batteries, it is demand for vehicle batteries that is doing the most to further research into battery technology, including manufacturing techniques, due to the fact that there is no more high-drain a consumer product than an electric car. This had led to some important advances, like Tesla's new Gigafactory. When completed, it is supposed to cut battery per kWh costs by a whopping 30 percent. Given that batteries tend to be the most expensive part of an electric car, this is a big deal, and a hugely important step toward making electric cars more mainstream.

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Why it matters

Batteries, along with light bulbs, are said to have been two of the slowest-evolving technologies we had. Advances in the circuitry in devices that use batteries have created some confusion about how fast the batteries themselves are advancing, as smaller batteries and longer battery life usually have more to do with the device than the battery. But this is really a good thing, as it provides incentive to the battery industry to improve in a way that simply didn't happen before, and if you look at electric cars from the time of GM's->ke1024 EV-1 compared to now, it's obvious that a lot has changed. More research is being done into batteries than ever before, and it seems that they may soon leave light bulbs behind in the slow-moving technology race.