Electric car battery may allow single-charge Edinburgh-London drive

A new battery developed by British scientists could pave the way to electric cars with the same energy storage capacity and endurance as petrol and diesel vehicles.

A motorist tops up an electric car in Glasgow. Picture: Robert Perry

In theory, one of the batteries would enable a car to travel from London to Edinburgh on a single charge.

Compared with current batteries, it would also be a fifth cheaper and lighter.

The “lithium-oxygen” battery, built by Cambridge University researchers, is more than 90 per cent efficient and has a very high “energy density” – meaning it can store a lot of extractable energy.

Although much work needs to be done, the technology could herald a transport revolution in the next decade.

Lead scientist Professor Clare Grey, from the university’s Department of Chemistry, said: “The current results are extremely exciting.”