Does Hyundai Have Better Battery Technology?

Hyundai made a big deal a the LA show that their battery technology, lithium polymer batteries, was superior to lithium-ion batteries. Cars like the Tesla have lithium-ion batteries which are very small cells (slightly large than an AA battery) each housed in a metal casing (pictured below) and then grouped into a large pack of cells.



When you add up all the cells, those metal casings add a lot of weight and packaging inefficiency. Hyundai's batteries use a polymer gel as the electrolyte, which allows the use of a thinner and lighter aluminum-walled encasement, or pouch. Lithium polymer batteries can be shaped much more freely, making it easier to package the battery into a vehicle's design. Hyundai says that their batteries have a much lower heat generation profile which presents few demands on engineers to keep the pack cool and also extends the life of the battery.



During the presentation, it all seemed to be too good to be true and I was anxious to see what everyone's response was. I have been disappointed so far in that all I have seen from automotive writers is Hyundai's press release regurgitated without much technical analysis. Can Hyundai legitimately claim superiority in battery technology?

I've got some resources for you: Firstly, you can check out Hyundai's presentation here. Lithium-ion polymer battery technology has a Wikipedia page located here. You can check out Battery University's post on the subject here. I'd be interested to hear what other folks have to say. From what I've heard, seen and read, lithium polymer batteries seem to be a rapidly evolving technology that looks to be superior to lithium-ion's cylindrical cells, with the exception of cost since lithium-ion has been around for some time and is a more mature technology relatively speaking.

source of Telsa lithium-ion battery: flickr user kqedquest