BAE has found a way of weaving nickel-based batteries into carbon fibres so that an electric powered product can get its power from the product’s body.
BAE told the BBC web-site that it had “merged battery chemistries into composite materials” with the objective of saving weight for troops carrying electronic kit.
BAE has built a torch and an unmanned aerial drone from the material which, it is hoped, will become as cheap and easy to work as carbon fibre and may replace today’s carbon-composites.
BAE is using the technique to build an electric racing car called the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV.
The snag is currently power-density which is a third that of a car battery and a tenth that of lithium batteries
BAE is working on a lithium-based approach.