Toshiba Corp. has developed a lithium-ion battery the company said features the short rechargeable time of capacitors and the energy capacity of conventional lithium-ion batteries. Toshiba's new battery can recharge 80 percent of the battery's energy capacity in one minute, approximately 60 times faster than the typical Li-ion batteries.

The energy density is 150 to 250 Wh (Watt-hour)/liter, equal to the lower range of energy densities existing lithium ion batteries have. Advanced Li-ion rechargeable batteries reach densities of 600 Wh/l. "It should be the world first lithium ion battery that can be charged in one minute. The battery has a big potential. It could be used for mobile phones in the future, but we put the priority on applications such as automobiles that require quick recharging time and large cycle time," said Norio Takami, Laboratory leader of Advanced Functional Materials laboratory at Toshiba's Corporate Research and Development Center.