Quantum Batteries Could Run For Years Off Of A Single One-Minute Charge

Batteries are powering an ever-wider array of devices and appliances, but today's batteries are still limited by their runtime and charging time. While the fastest smartphones can recharge in under 10 minutes, they'll still run out of charge a day or so later under normal usage conditions. However, new developments in quantum battery technology are helping to pave the way for batteries in the future to both last far longer and charge far quicker than today.

A new study published in the Light: Science and Applications journal detailed how researchers developed the first working quantum battery prototype, which was charged, stored energy, then was discharged. In doing so, it completed a full battery cycle, becoming the first quantum battery prototype to make the leap from theory to reality.

To test the prototype, the first researchers charged the battery using a laser, which took only a few femtoseconds. For reference, that's a millionth of a billionth of a second. This unimaginably quick charging speed was made possible thanks to the unique properties of quantum batteries, which charge faster when their capacity is larger. Unlike regular batteries, molecules in quantum batteries are subject to a collective effect that allows them to store energy more efficiently.

The tiny battery prototype was then observed to hold charge for around six orders of magnitude longer than the amount of time it took to charge before it discharged. The entire process from the start of charging to full discharge took only a tiny fraction of a second, but researchers have hypothesized that the new tech could one day be scaled up to make commercial-grade batteries.

Speaking to The Guardian, the study's lead researcher Dr James Quach said that a large enough battery with the same properties as the prototype could take a minute to charge and would remain charged for several years. Since the prototype was also charged using a laser, there would be no need for the battery to be in physical contact with a terminal either. He gave the example of a drone, saying "you could charge it while it's in flight," and added that "once the technology matures [...] you would no longer need to stop your car [...] to charge it up."

The new tech might have plenty of potential, but EV owners shouldn't expect to be ditching their wired home and on-the-road fast chargers for the foreseeable future. The current battery prototype is only able to hold a charge for a few billionths of a second, and it can only hold a very small amount of charge. Nonetheless, it's another exciting development in the field of quantum research, which has seen all kinds of other improbable-sounding tech created by scientists in recent years.

In 2025, scientists at Oxford University managed to develop a way to teleport data between two quantum computers, using entanglement between qubits. If the quantum battery prototype can indeed be scaled up, it's likely to be first used in quantum computing before potentially being adapted for a wider range of uses.