Thomas Edison is known for being one of the great inventors of the nineteenth century and one of the pioneers in the field of electricity. But one of his inventions remains in the shadows. In 1902 Edison worked with his colleague Waldemar Jungner on a car battery powered by the Nickel-Iron couple, both metals being immersed in an alkaline solution. This battery is resistant to weather and discharges; unfortunately, it struggles to release a strong energy in a short time. An advantage, however, on lead-acid batteries, common at this time: it was less expensive.
Edison, a fervent promoter of electric cars, decides to prove his battery life: in 1910, he participated in a 1000-mile long endurance motor racing with the Bailey Electric Phaeton. However, Bailey can not keep pace with gasoline cars. In 1915, the builder Bailey abandoned the electric car, while Edison also turned away from the project.
And yet, it seems that the battery invented by Edison is brought up to date, thanks to the work of the Hongjie Dai chemist, Stanford University (United States). The Nickel-Iron battery is improved with the addition of carbon nanotubes and graphene (thick carbon layer). If the new battery remains to be tested, it seems to reach an energy density a thousand times higher than that of Edison (although one of the researchers admits that this battery is still not ideal and sufficient to propel a car electric).
