It would be a dull month if a new rechargeable battery project didn’t make headlines amid all the excitement surrounding electric cars. This month’s indisputable winner is the lithium-ion battery that replaces cobalt with iron, and—rather surprisingly—works, at least according to the people who came up with the idea. The potential implications of this invention are huge: Cobalt is enjoying a very strong rally as demand is estimated to skyrocket with the influx of electric cars in the world’s biggest markets, notably China and the United States. So is lithium, but the iron battery is unlikely to have an impact on lithium demand. Also, theoretically, the iron battery could put some battery makers out of business. The idea of using iron in batteries isn’t new, but so far, attempts to substitute the cheap metal for costlier cobalt and other metals have ended in disaster. Christopher Wolverton, professor of materials […]