WATCH: This local chemical breakthrough could be big news for electric cars

• UBCO developing a new battery
• The tech can be used for a variety of applications

Lithium-ion batteries have been a staple of everyday life since the early 90s. Everything from consumer electronics, to, more recently, electric vehicles (EVs), rely on their use for power.

But what if there was a safer, longer lasting alternative to the traditional lithium-ion battery?

A recent university study revealed the addition of tellurium to existing battery technologies enhanced their life, charge time, safety, size and many other attributes.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO), in cooperation with Fenix Advanced Materials, whose founder Don Freschi is on First Tellurium's Advisory Board, has developed a lithium-ion tellurium battery that could be in commercial production within a year.

Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering UBCO, Dr. Jian Lui, told Kelowna10, their goal for this new battery technology is to power portable devices, as well as EVs.

“For current lithium-ion batteries, there are limitations in terms of driving range for electric vehicles,” Lui said, hoping EV driving range can be extended with this new technology.

Lui also said the world faces challenges with carbon intensive energy.

“Now, in order to address those challenges, we had to switch to renewable energy [and] wind and solar,” he said.

But, Lui said, it is imperative to have energy storage technology in order to make renewable energy systems function properly.

“As a researcher, I am very excited to see new science that has never been explored before.”

In a media release, CEO of First Tellurium, Tyrone Docherty, said it’s possible “tellurium could have the largest single impact on future battery technology over any other critical mineral.”

“Its properties are unique, the demand is increasing and America’s mandate is to source tellurium at home and become less reliant on China [who] is changing the landscape,” he added.