Autonomous cars need tougher batteries, says expert

TOKYO: Battery makers must rethink their technology if predictions for a wave of self-driving vehicles pan out, according to one of the inventors of the lithium-ion battery.

In addition to focusing on making batteries more powerful to extend the driving range of single-owner cars, manufacturers would also need to develop devices that could withstand the rigors of near-constant driving and short-range trips from the shared use expected of autonomous vehicles, said Akira Yoshino, who invented a prototype of the lithium-ion battery in 1985.