Now, batteries that charge 70 percent in just 2 minutes

Researchers in Singapore have come up with a new battery which could be charged 70 percent in just 2 minutes, which would allow electric cars to fuel up as fast as petrol-diesel cars.

According to CNET, scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have created a lithium ion battery, using a titanium dioxide gel, that can get up to a 70 percent charge in just 2 minutes and can allegedly last up to 20 years.

The traditional li-ion batteries have graphite anodes, but instead of graphite, the team at NTU used a titanium dioxide gel they developed that dramatically speeds up the chemical reaction that takes place in the battery, meaning it can charge much faster.

To achieve this effect, they found a way of forming the titanium dioxide, which is normally spherical in shape, into tiny nanotubes-small rods thousands of times smaller than a human hair. Unlike in typical lithium ion batteries, additives aren't needed to bind the electrodes to the anode, so reactions take place faster, report said.

NTU Singapore Associate Professor and the inventor of titanium dioxide gel, Chen Xiaodong said that with this nanotechnology, electric cars would be able to increase their range dramatically with just 5 minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars.