A lithium-ion upgrade for your car, but not the one you’re expecting

Enlarge / The Antigravity battery in place, with the Bluetooth monitor dongle. (credit: Bradley Iger)

From iPhones to Teslas, lithium-ion battery technology is ubiquitous in today's world. It's the chemistry of choice for a wide range of applications due to its high charge density relative to its mass, which in turn yields things like high-end laptops that can run for more than 10 hours on a single charge while weighing less than four pounds.

But what about that lead-acid lump hanging out in your car's engine bay? The origins of that battery date back to the mid-19th century, and yet even today you'll still find this archaic tech serving up electrons in the vast majority of vehicles on the road—including EVs.

In recent years, some automakers have started to make lithium-ion starter batteries available in their vehicles, but the batteries have largely been limited to expensive optional offerings in high-end sports cars from companies like Porsche and McLaren. Antigravity is looking to change that.

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