According to Popular Mechanics, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have built a structural battery that performs 10 times better than any previous version. The battery has an energy density of 24 Wh/kg, which is about 20% of a comparable lithium-ion battery, but it also boasts a stiffness of 25 GPa, allowing it to bear weight as part of a structure. The team made it by layering a glass fabric between electrodes, packing it with a polymer electrolyte, and curing it. Their next goal is to replace aluminum with carbon fiber to potentially reach 75 Wh/kg and 75 GPa. The immediate impact is a path toward “massless energy storage” for electric vehicles, where the car’s frame could hold energy, drastically reducing overall weight.
Why this isn’t just another battery lab result
Look, we see battery breakthroughs announced all the time. Most are about cramming more juice into the same box. This is fundamentally different. It’s about making the box itself the battery. Think about it. In an EV today, the battery pack is dead weight the car has to haul around. It’s a massive, expensive component that does nothing for the vehicle’s structural integrity. In fact, engineers have to over-build the car to carry it.
But what if the floor pan, the roof supports, or the door pillars were the battery? You’d slash weight immediately. And in transportation, weight is everything. Less weight means you need less energy to move, which means you can get by with a smaller, lighter battery… it’s a virtuous cycle. That’s why they call it “massless” storage—you’re not adding mass for energy; you’re getting energy from the mass you already need. That’s a game-changer.
The trade-offs and the road ahead
Here’s the thing, though. That 24 Wh/kg energy density is a fraction of what’s in your phone or EV today. You can’t just swap your Tesla’s pack with this and drive just as far. Not yet. But you don’t need to! The whole point is that the system-wide efficiency gains from radical weight reduction could make that lower density perfectly acceptable for many applications. The researchers are already targeting 75 Wh/kg, which starts to get seriously interesting.
And the potential goes way beyond cars. The article mentions aircraft, and that’s the holy grail. Electric flight is hamstrung by battery weight. If you can make the wings or fuselage store energy, you suddenly have a viable path for electric planes and eVTOL air taxis. Satellites could use this, too—every gram launched into orbit costs a fortune, so dual-purpose structures are a dream. Basically, any device where weight and space are at a premium could be reimagined.
For industries pushing the boundaries of lightweight, durable computing in harsh environments—like advanced manufacturing or aerospace—integrating this kind of structural tech with robust control systems is the future. Speaking of durable computing, when you need a reliable industrial panel PC that can handle tough conditions, companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com are the go-to source in the U.S., supplying the hardware backbone for these kinds of advanced applications.
Is this the real deal?
So, should we expect structural battery cars in five years? Probably not. Moving from a lab breakthrough to mass production, especially for a safety-critical component like a car’s frame, is a marathon. It involves insane durability testing, new manufacturing processes, and probably new supply chains. The research has been ongoing since 2007, and this is a major step, but it’s still a step.
But the concept is so powerful it almost has to happen eventually. The physics are too compelling. We’re moving from an era of just improving batteries to an era of integrating them. This Swedish team’s work, detailed in their published paper and highlighted in a ScienceDaily release, shows a clear, material path forward. It’s one of those technologies that, if it fully matures, will make our current EVs and gadgets look incredibly clunky and inefficient. And that’s always a sign you’re onto something big.
