The duo's novel lithium-carbon battery borrows elements from the world of supercapacitors to deliver charge times that are on par with the refueling process for internal combustion-powered vehicles, and offers a few other environmental benefits while it's at it."Range anxiety is often quoted as the main barrier to electric vehicle adoption, but if the battery could be recharged in the same time it takes to refuel a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle, much of that worry goes away," says Dr Mike Bassett, Mahle Powertrain's Head of Research.

Mahle, who earlier this year revealed a cheap electric vehicle motor that uses no magnets, teamed up with Allotrope Energy to turn this type of thinking to electric mopeds, pointing to the increasing use of gasoline-powered variants in cities in response to the on-demand economy. The idea was to develop a cheap, small-capacity lithium-carbon battery that could keep these electric vehicles on the move, with minimal stoppage time required for recharging.