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IBM is continuing its push toward advanced vehicle capacity (previously: IBM develops an electric vehicle-to utility communication platform) by unveiling its progress on a breakthrough advanced battery. The battery is a "lithium air battery," which could increase an electric car's range to 500 miles. With this project, IBM is taking the long view-- they have been working on research for three years and the battery may be a commercial product in 2020 or later. The battery could be the ultimate game-changer for advanced vehicles. GigaOM reports:

To put this innovation in perspective, scientists have been working on the lithium air battery for years. It’s considered to be one of the only types of batteries that could get close to the kind of energy density (the amount of energy stored for a set volume) that gasoline has, and so it could be a breakthrough for the electric car specifically. Electric cars need to have batteries that are as lightweight as possible — extra weight just drains the battery faster, and batteries that are smaller and use less materials can also be lower in cost.