It's good to have a place to post stuff like this. Our own Nissan engineers, in cooperation with their local universities, have achieved...something.
Nissan Motor Company and its affiliate Nissan Arc Ltd. today announced the development of the world's first analysis method that enables direct observation of electron activity in the cathode material of lithium ion batteries during charging and discharging.
The article goes into some depth, talking about x-ray absorption spectroscopy and supercomputers. Part of the idea is to look at the materials of the cathode and determine how they trade electrons around, and to see how many electrons you get out in the end.
Nissan Arc has used the new analysis technique to investigate lithium-rich high-capacity electrode materials, which are considered promising agents to increase energy density by 150 percent.
Reference is: http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/nissan-develops-world-first-analysis-technique-for-better-lithium-ion-battery-durability" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The conventional lesson is that most "inventions" are actually the result of a lot of research and hard work, and that progress is slow and incremental.
The social lesson goes, If they really did mean 150% additional energy (and not 50% more), this would mean "up to" 250 Nissan Miles (TM) or 210 EPA miles.
So, when you see the headline, "Nissan announces 250 mile LEAF", you'll know where this particular rumor originated
