Teslas are poised to receive a significant range upgrade, as early as 2023, with new batteries from Panasonic.
Panasonic has been working on new batteries for Tesla for some time, with the new batteries boasting five times more capacity, despite only being twice the size. In addition, Independent reports the new batteries will cost half as much as the current generation.
Nikkei Asia is reporting that Panasonic is preparing to begin mass production, with the batteries expected to make their way into Teslas as early as 2023.
With a 15% increase in range, this would take the Model S from roughly 404 miles to approximately 465 miles on a full charge, a significant, real-world increase for the average user.
GM has partnered with MIT spinout SolidEnergy Systems to improve EV range, thanks to an innovative type of battery.
SolidEnergy Systems has specialized in lithium metal (Li-Metal) batteries, instead of the current lithium-ion. By using Li-Metal, the batteries feature increased energy density. This allows similarly sized batteries to offer greater range. Alternately, smaller batteries could save space, while still providing the same range as existing, larger batteries.
“Affordability and range are two major barriers to mass EV adoption,” said General Motors President Mark Reuss. “With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe we’re on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost. There’s even more room to improve in both categories, and we intend to innovate faster than any other company in this space.”
GM first invested in SolidEnergy Systems six years, and the company’s tech will form the basis of GM’s Ultium-based vehicles. GM first announced the Ultium Platfom, its next generation battery technology, a year ago.
The company’s moves come amid its transition to EV vehicles, promising its light-duty vehicles will be all-electric by 2035.
President Biden has signed an executive order authorizing a review of the US supply chain, including semiconductors.
The US has suffered from a number of major supply chain crises over the last year. At the outset of the pandemic, medical professions struggled with a shortage of PPE. Most recently, multiple industries have been impacted by a shortage of semiconductors. The automotive industry, in particular, has been one of the hardest hit.
President Biden’s executive order is not a short-term solution, but is an attempt to devise a long-term plan to address the country’s need for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, rare-earth elements and large-capacity batteries.
“And the bottom line is simple: The American people should never face shortages in the goods and services they rely on, whether that’s their car or their prescription medicines or the food at the local grocery store,” said President Biden when announcing the executive order.
The supply chain review will also help pave the way for additional jobs, as well as secure existing ones, by ensuring workers have the critical supplies they need. For example, the semiconductor shortage recently halted production at three GM plants. Ensuring a safe supply of critical components will keep companies and entire industries running.
“This is about making sure the United States can meet every challenge we face in this new era — pandemics, but also in defense, cybersecurity, climate change, and so much more,” continued President Biden. “And the best way to do that is by protecting and sharpening America’s competitive edge by investing here at home. As I’ve said from the beginning, while I was running: We’re going to invest in America. We’re going to invest in American workers. And then we can be in a much better position to even compete beyond what we’re doing now.
“Resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains are going to help revitalize our domestic manufacturing capacity and create good-paying jobs, not $15 an hour — which is what we need to do someday. And sooner is better, in my view. But jobs that are at the prevailing wage.”
Batteries for the electric F-150 may be in short supply due to an import dispute involving the Korean supplier Ford is using.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has banned Korea-based SK Innovation from importing batteries to the US for 10 years, according to Bloomberg. The ruling comes as a result of an accusation from Korea-based LG Chem, accusing SK Innovation of stealing trade secrets. The seemingly harsh ban was the result of SK Innovation destroying evidence LG Chem needed to prove its case.
The ITC did provide a grace period to give automakers, including Ford and Volkswagen, time to make alternate arrangements. SK Innovation can import components for the F-150 for four years, and for the Volkswagen’s MEB line for two years.
There are two factors that could play to SK Innovation’s favor. The company is building a factory in Georgia that will become operational later this year. While some components are still slated to be imported, when faced with a 10-year ban, the company may try to move all production to the US.
As Bloomberg highlights, President Biden could also overrule the ITC’s decision on public policy grounds. Given the front-and-center focus climate change and green energy is taking in the new administration, it’s entirely possible SK Innovation’s ban may be seen as too damaging to electric vehicle endeavors.
Electric vehicles are approaching the tipping point of mass adoption thanks to a combination of factors.
Electric vehicles have been increasing in popularity, with multiple automakers committed to phasing out gasoline engines in the next decade. Even so, there are issues holding back widespread adoption, specifically cost and range anxiety.
According to The Guardian, however, those factors are on the verge of changing, and already have in some locations. Norway, for example, saw electric cars hit 54% market share in 2020 thank, in large part, to tax breaks that made them cheaper than gasoline-powered vehicles. Continued development of battery technology is driving the price down globally, making it only a matter of time before electric vehicles are cheaper in other countries as well.
Similarly, StoreDot has successfully demonstrated batteries that charge in five minutes. Fast-charging batteries are one of the biggest factors in alleviating range anxiety, making it possible to recharge in the same amount of time it would take to refuel a traditional vehicle.
As The Guardian points out, experts now believe electric vehicles will become cheaper than traditional vehicles, even without subsidies, sometime between 2023 and 2025.
While there’s still a ways to go, these factors are combining to ensure the tipping point of mass adoption occurs sooner rather than later.
StoreDot has achieved a significant milestone, demonstrating lithium-ion (Li-ion) electric vehicle batteries that charge in five minutes.
Range anxiety is one of the biggest challenges to widespread electric vehicle adoption. Even with increased charging infrastructure, lengthy charging times can be an impediment to long-distance travel, such as a cross-country trip.
StoreDot is an Israeli startup that may have the solution. The company has been working on fast-charging Li-ion batteries, ideally suited for electric vehicles. The company has now announced that engineer samples of its first-generation 5-minute charge batteries are now available.
Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot, described the significance of the company’s technology:
StoreDot continues to go from strength to strength as we get one step closer to making our vision of 5-minute charging of EVs a commercial reality. Our team of top scientists has overcome inherent challenges of XFC such as safety, cycle life and swelling by harnessing innovative materials and cell design. Today’s announcement marks an important milestone, moving XFC for the first time beyond innovation in the lab to a commercially-viable product that is scalable for mass production. This paves the way for the launch of our second-generation, silicon-dominant anode prototype battery for electric vehicles later this year.
We founded StoreDot to achieve what many said could never be done – develop batteries capable of delivering a full charge in just five minutes. We have shown that this level of XFC charging is possible – first in 2019 with an electric scooter and again six months ago with a commercial drone. We are proud to make these samples available, but today’s milestone is just the beginning. We’re on the cusp of achieving a revolution in the EV charging experience that will remove the critical barrier to mass adoption of EVs.
StoreDot’s batteries could be a game-changer for the industry, and lead to electric vehicles that are every bit as convenient as their gasoline-fueled counterparts.
As electric and hybrid vehicles become standard, the EU is working to become self-sufficient in the batteries powering them by 2025.
According to Reuters, China currently is responsible for 80% of the world’s lithium-ion production. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic would like to ensure Europe’s ability to be self-sufficient in the critical tech.
“I am confident that by 2025, the EU will be able to produce enough battery cells to meet the needs of the European automotive industry, and even to build our export capacity,” Sefcovic told the online European Conference on Batteries, according to Reuters. This would equal enough batteries to power 6 million electric vehicles.
The news comes on the heals of the VW Group’s announcement it will be increasing its investment in future tech, including electric vehicle technology, to $86 billion over the next five years. In addition, Bentley announced its entire lineup would be electric-only by 2030.
Being self-sufficient in electric batteries would help the EU and its automakers remain competitive as the industry adopts the new technology.
Germany has taken a significant step toward widespread adoption of electric vehicles, by requiring fueling stations to offer electric vehicle charging.
The move is part of a group of steps Germany is taking to help cut carbon emissions, including taxing owners of gas-guzzling SUVs and providing a subsidy to electric car buyers.
As Reuters points out, Germany will spend some 2.5 billion euros on charging infrastructure, as well as battery production. This should go a long way toward alleviating concerns drivers have about how easily they’ll be able to charge an electric vehicle.
“We know that 97% of the reason why they’re not buying electric cars is range anxiety,” Diego Biasi, chairman and co-founder in Quercus Real Assets told Reuters. “The German move is a way to try and fix this range anxiety since it means you know a petrol station is always open.”
Hopefully other countries will follow Germany’s example.
Volkswagen is set to significantly increase the amount of nickel in its electric vehicle batteries.
Nickel is an important component in battery manufacturing, and helps increase the storage capacity and energy density of batteries. This, in turn, can lead to lower cost-per-kWh of storage, according to the Nickel Institute.
VW’s current generation of batteries are comprised of 65% nickel but, according Reuters, the automaker’s “next generation batteries will have 80% nickel, 10% cobalt and 10% manganese.” The increased nickel should help the company significantly improve its electric vehicles’ storage capacity and range.
Reuters goes on to say that VW plans to produce 3 million electric vehicles by 2025. The company’s new battery tech should go a long way toward ensuring their new vehicles are competitive in an increasingly crowded field.
The European Commission is considering a proposal that would force smartphone manufacturers to use easily replaceable batteries.
One of the primary goals of the proposed legislation is to help reduce e-waste by giving users the ability to replace an aging battery and continue using the phone. As ZDNet highlights, how the EU would go about enforcing it is unknown. Evidently, despite the EU trying to enforce a uniform charging port standard, there are no plans to take a similar approach with batteries. Different manufacturers, shapes, sizes and more all play into how batteries are designed.
Although replaceable batteries used to be quite common in cell phones, the industry has changed dramatically since then. Phones have become larger, while at the same time slimmer. Smartphones are used hours more per day, and for a wider variety of tasks, than old-style flip phones.
Companies often are accused of sealing up their phone cases and using non-replaceable batteries to improve profits by making it difficult to replace the battery and extend the life of the device. In at least some cases, however, there are practical issues. Having a sealed case helps keep dust out and makes it easier to waterproof the phone. It can also be easier to put a larger battery in a sealed phone.
These factors will likely cause manufacturers to push back against the EU’s proposal. Whether they will be successful or not, remains to be seen.
Citing Cairn Energy Research Advisors, CNBC is reporting that Tesla has a significant advantage in electric battery technology.
The electric vehicle pioneer is facing more and more competition from startups and established rivals. Rivian has made headlines as a more traditional-looking electric vehicle manufacturer, while Ford has also had its fair share of news for an all-electric Mustang Mach-E and upcoming F-150. GM, Toyota, Subaru and others are all planning to roll out all-electric lineups, with Subaru committed to producing only electric vehicles by the mid-2030s.
According to Sam Jaffe, managing director of Cairn Energy Research Advisors, despite the competition, Tesla still has a major advantage in the battery tech it uses. While most automakers use battery packs that have pouch or prismatic cells, “Tesla is the only automaker to use cylindrical battery cells in its battery packs.” In the last four years, the cost of cylindrical cell battery packs has dropped over $100 per kilowatt hour (kWh), hitting $158.27 per kWh last year. In contrast, the cost of the competition’s battery packs is still running over $200 per kWh.
While a difference of less than $50 per kWh may not seem like a lot, as manufacturers ramp up production and begin mass-producing electric vehicles, that expense will add up quickly. In addition, Jaffa says Tesla also has an advantage not only in its more advanced cylindrical battery cells, but also in its battery management system.
“Tesla has really revolutionized that part of the battery pack and made it much more sophisticated, and it gives them the competitive advantage,” said Jaffe, according to CNBC.
NBC News is reporting that Nikola Motors claims to have found the “Holy Grail of batteries,” promising to double the range of electric vehicles and the number of recharge cycles, while cutting costs in half.
Nikola is not going into much detail about how the new technology works, as it has been developed by a company Nikola is in the process of acquiring. They have alluded to the fact that the technology is a refinement of the current lithium-ion standard, rather than a complete replacement of it.
The new method seems to involve “removing the binder material and electric current collectors used in today’s lithium-ion cells.” According to company founder and chief executive Trevor Milton, this reduces the size and weight, while also making the batteries “more conductive,” which gives them faster charging times.
According to NBC News, Nikola’s testing has resulted in batteries that can sustain 2,000 charging cycles, which is twice the current industry standard for electric vehicles. This translates to roughly 1.5 million miles before a truck would need battery replacements.
Nikola isn’t eyeing just the electric vehicle market, however. They believe the technology could revolutionize cellphones, tablets and other consumer devices. Battery capacity and lifespan continues to be troublesome bottlenecks for the electric vehicle market, as well as consumer devices. If Nikola is successful in bringing its tech to market, this could usher in a new wave of innovation.
You’ll recall that Tesla has been working on a lithium-ion battery for home energy storage for some time, and at the company’s earnings call in February Musk set a “couple month” timeline on the big reveal.
“We’re going to unveil the Tesla home battery, or the sort of consumer battery that will be for use in people’s houses or businesses, fairly soon. We have the design done, and it should start going to production, probably in about six months, or so. We’re trying to figure out a date to have the product unveiling, but it’s probably in the next month or two months. And it’s really great; I’m really excited about it,” he said at the time.
On Sunday, the San Francisco Chroniclereleased an article which has shaken the core of the internet and tech world. According to an anonymous source, Adrian Perica, Apple’s merger and acquisitions chief, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, held a secret meeting in Cupertino, CA last spring. Unfortunately, both Apple and Tesla have declined to comment on such a meeting. Thus, let the internet come ablaze with wild rumors and speculations.
While the meeting has not been corroborated by either company, there are many good reasons to believe that such a meeting would have been held. The supposed meeting between technological giants came after much pressure from business analysts for the two companies to join forces. Berenberg analyst Adnaan Ahmad even went as far as writing an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook explaining why Apple’s acquisition of Tesla would be the best step for Apple to take for its future stating:
“The auto industry is going through a technological discontinuity in its shift to hybrid and electric vehicles. This is still in its very early innings. Apple needs know-how (technology, platform strategy and dealer network) in this space and hence I propose that you should buy Tesla. I know this is radical and potentially “transformative” but this would radically alter Apple’s growth profile… From a US national policy perspective, Apple could re-ignite the US auto industry and give it a competitive edge versus the current Asian and European leaders, similar to what you have done in the smartphone and wireless space where the US is now at the forefront of technological leadership after having been a laggard for over two decades. And finally, in Elon Musk, you could strike up a partnership and obtain a new iconic partner to lead Apple’s innovation drive.”
Despite all of the sense derived from this letter and other facts (such as the fact that Steve Jobs expressed his wishes to build a car before his death), Apple completely acquiring Tesla is most likely not going to happen. Apple is struggling enough to keep its own products at the top of the market, and Elon Musk has publicly voiced his intent to keep Tesla in his possession forever:
Forgot to say one thing at Tesla annual shareholders meeting: just as my money was the first in, it will be the last out.
What is more likely, however, is that the closed-door meeting was held to discuss Tesla’s progress on its proposed “Gigafactory” – a battery factory which would double global gigawatt battery output. Coincidentally, the company would produce the same exact batteries that Apple currently uses in its devices.
So, while a Tesla-Apple merger sounds tempting, the US is not likely to see an iTesla anytime soon. Instead, one is more likely to express much frustration at trying to charge one’s Tesla Model S with a lightning cable.
Anyone who has ever carried a battery and spare change in the same pocket knows that things can heat up considerably when that battery gets going. Never done that? How about crossing up and connecting together two nine-volt batteries? That neither? Well, trust me, it gets hot.
The Associated Press reports that something quite like that happened aboard a UPS plane in Dubai three years ago. In that case, a fire started that raged quickly through the whole plane, until finally the plane crashed in the desert.
Suspicions about the fire starting from batteries had been bandies about before. Every single 787 plane was grounded earlier this year after a fire in a battery on a 787 parked at Logan International Airport. Another smoking battery caused an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan.
But this battery fire was not in the batteries that help power and run the plane. The fire on the UPS plane began in cargo, where a load of batteries was being transported.
A recent report by the General Civil Aviation Authority in the United Arab Emirates found that “with reasonable certainty” the fire began in cargo where “thousands” of lithium batteries of different types were being held for transport. The report could not be completely sure, but they did note an event called a “thermal runaway”, which is when a battery starts to heat up because pole connections are crossed – much like hooking two 9-volt batteries together. That reaction, it is thought, caused that battery to heat to a critical point, catching fire, which then heated the nearby batteries, then resulting in their explosions. Finally a fire raged through the plane.
“The fire escalated rapidly into a catastrophic, uncontained” blaze, the report said.
The director of the Air Line Pilots Association’s dangerous goods program, Mark Rogers, said the UPS plane was carrying between 80,000 to 90,000 lithium ion and lithium metal batteries as cargo and in equipment.
BMW and Toyota today announced that the car companies have teamed up to develop a new fuel-cell system and the future of lithium battery technology. The companies signed binding agreements to collaborate on several projects meant to usher in future vehicle technology.
“[Toyota] and the BMW Group share the same strategic vision of future sustainable mobility,” said Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board at BMW. “In light of the technological changes ahead, the entire automotive industry faces tremendous challenges, which we also regard as an opportunity. This collaboration is an important building block in keeping both companies on a successful course in the future.”
A new fuel-cell system will be jointly developed by the companies, which includes a hydrogen tank, motor, and battery. The project is slated to be completed in 2020, and codes and standards for the hydrogen infrastructure will also be developed.
BMW and Toyota will also jointly develop lightweight technologies for vehicle bodies. The research will include reinforced composites, which could be included in another joint venture: a mid-size sports car. A feasibility study on the jointly designed car is due by the end of 2013, and the companies will combine their technology and engineering know-how to “maximise customer satisfaction.
Perhaps the most far-reaching collaboration the companies will undertake is the development of lithium-air battery technology. Such batteries would have energy densities far greater than current lithium-ion batteries.
“It is just over a year since we signed our collaborative MoU [memorandum of understanding), and with each day as our relationship strengthens, we feel acutely that we are making steadfast progress,” said Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota. “Now, we are entering the phase that promises the fruit. While placing importance on what we learn from the joint development, we will work hard together in reaching our common goal of making ever-better cars.”
Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a flexible battery, which is capturing some media attention, and could be used to make electronic devices more bendable.
The important thing to note is that when the battery is bent, it does not interfere with the flow of electricity.
High-performance flexible power sources have gained attention, as they enable the realization of next-generation bendable, implantable, and wearable electronic systems. Although the rechargeable lithium-ion battery (LIB) has been regarded as a strong candidate for a high-performance flexible energy source, compliant electrodes for bendable LIBs are restricted to only a few materials, and their performance has not been sufficient for them to be applied to flexible consumer electronics including rollable displays. In this paper, we present a flexible thin-film LIB developed using the universal transfer approach, which enables the realization of diverse flexible LIBs regardless of electrode chemistry. Moreover, it can form high-temperature (HT) annealed electrodes on polymer substrates for high-performance LIBs. The bendable LIB is then integrated with a flexible light-emitting diode (LED), which makes an all-in-one flexible electronic system. The outstanding battery performance is explored and well supported by finite element analysis (FEA) simulation.
While there are certainly already flexible electronics already in existence, such a battery could remove some of the restrictions of even these, enabling more actual area of the devices to be flexible.
Researchers at Rice University have developed a battery that can be spray-painted. The lithium-ion battery can be painted onto nearly any surface, and is rechargeable. The battery is spray-painted in layers, with each layer representing a part of a traditional battery. The study of this technology has been published today in Nature‘s online journal Scientific Reports.
“This means traditional packaging for batteries has given way to a much more flexible approach that allows all kinds of new design and integration possibilities for storage devices,” said Pulickel Ajayan, professor in mechanical engineering, materials science, and chemistry at Rice. “There has been lot of interest in recent times in creating power sources with an improved form factor, and this is a big step forward in that direction.”
The spray-on battery is applied in five layers: two current collectors, a cathode, an anode, and a polymer separator. The researchers have already painted the battery onto ceramic tiles, flexible polymers, glass, stainless steel, and a beer stein. Small solar cells have so far been used to charge the batteries.
Neelam Singh, Rice graduate student and lead author of the study, stated that she envisions the spray-paint battery being used with the recently announced paintable solar cells. She imagines coating the exterior of a house with this type of combination, making solar energy more prevalent and affordable. “Spray painting is already an industrial process, so it would be very easy to incorporate this into industry,” Singh said. “We really do consider this a paradigm changer.”
Take a look at the video below to see Singh and other researchers demonstrate their patent-pending paintable battery:
Talk about a close call. A really, really close call.
Apparently, a Samsung Galaxy S II caught fire inside someone’s pocket. The incident was reported on the xda-developers forums, by a friend who seemed to be seeing at least a little bit of humor in the situation:
My friend almost lost his nuts! He said he heard a sound, a burning sensation on his leg and as he pulled this piece of junk out of his pocket he smelled burning. There was smoke coming out of his pocket and out of the phone. LoL, He said he was scared.
You think? One time a friend secretly dropped a lit firecracker in my front pocket. I imagine the situation was similar.
According to the report, the victim hadn’t even had the phone for longer than two weeks and hadn’t recently used it either – it was just sitting, cold in his pocket. He posted some photos of the melted device to prove his story. From the looks of those photos, it appears that the battery may be to blame for the incident:
It appears that iPhones aren’t the only smartphones spontaneously blowing up these days. Two high profile reports emerged earlier this week about Apple devices smoking and catching fire. The first came from Australia, where a group of passengers were startled when one of their iPhone 4s began smoking and emitting a red glow. Luckily, they were in the process of landing. Officials are still investigating the cause of the incident.
A few days later, a man in Brazil had a bad morning when he awoke to his iPhone 4 on fire, only inches away from his face. It’s thought that the battery could be the issue in those cases as well.
So look out, guys. It’s not just the radiation that could hurt your reproductive prowess when you carry your smartphone in your pocket.
Batteries are on everybody’s mind these days. As smart devices evolve to perform more complex actions, the batteries that power those devices must hold up their end of the deal and provide sufficient charge time. Battery issues have plagued the newest release of the most popular smartphone in the world: the iPhone 4S.
Will the lithium-ion batteries of the future hold a charge for over a week and only take 15 minutes to fully recharge? According to engineers at Northwestern University, that reality is only 3 to 5 years away.
When creating their new super-lithium-ion battery, the researchers attempted to tackle two big problems of the technology – “energy capacity and charge rate.” Basically, how long the battery holds a charge and how quickly you can charge it back up from dead.
Lithium-ion batteries work through a reaction that sends ions back and forth between the battery ends, the anode and cathode, through the electrolyte. As of right now, lithium-ion batteries are limited by the charge density – or how full you can pack the ends with the ions. That affects how long the batteries last. They are also limited by how fast ions can travel from the electrolyte to the anode. That limits how fast they can be recharged.
Here is the current state of these batteries:
In current rechargeable batteries, the anode — made of layer upon layer of carbon-based graphene sheets — can only accommodate one lithium atom for every six carbon atoms. To increase energy capacity, scientists have previously experimented with replacing the carbon with silicon, as silicon can accommodate much more lithium: four lithium atoms for every silicon atom.
Except silicon is unstable during the charging process. The engineers have apparently fixed that issue:
To stabilize the silicon in order to maintain maximum charge capacity, they sandwiched clusters of silicon between the graphene sheets. This allowed for a greater number of lithium atoms in the electrode while utilizing the flexibility of graphene sheets to accommodate the volume changes of silicon during use.
So the addition of silicon allows for the batteries to hold a charge longer, lasting 10 times as long as current lithium-ion batteries. As far as the speed of the recharge is concerned, the team uses tiny holes to create “shortcuts” for the ions traveling back to the anode. This apparently reduces the recharge time tenfold.
iPhones, tablets, even electric cars could benefit from this research. Can you even imagine a world where your smartphone only needed a charge once a week and that charge only took a few minutes? Let us know in the comments.
Although the iPhone 4S’ debut weekend smashed sales records and the phone continues to do very well, that doesn’t mean that everything is perfect in iPhone land. One of the biggest issues plaguing the new device is the battery suck that is affecting a large number of users.
The Apple forums and social media channels have been flooded with complaints regarding the battery life of the 4S, with reports varying as to the degree of the problem. Some users have reported small battery issues while others have reported 15 – even 20 percent loss in less than an hour of non-strenuous use.
When the iPhone 4S launched, Apple touted up to 8 hours of talk time or 6 hours of internet browsing with 3G. It was clear pretty early on that this was not happening for many users.
On Wednesday evening, Apple finally confirmed the battery problem and said that they were working on a fix in an upcoming iOS update. Here’s what an Apple spokesperson told All Things D:
A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.
We might see that software update a little sooner than expected, as iOS 5.0.1 beta has been seeded to developers. The update promises to fix the battery life issues that have incensed users since the release of the iPhone 4S.
The beta update also adds multitasking gestures for the iPad and addresses a security issue regarding the iPad 2 and smart covers.
It was discovered that there was one specific thing negatively affecting the 4S battery life that users could easily fix: a time-zone bug. According to TechCrunch, iOS 5 most likely has a bug that constantly pings servers to update location – including updating time zones. All you need to do is go to settings>location services>system services and turn off the location services for setting time zone.
Hopefully, iOS 5.0.1 solves this battery issue once and for all, as there is nothing more frustrating to a smartphone owner than a rapidly depleting battery.
