of the ones in these. these are rechargeable lithium ion batteries. we really can't live without these. lithium ion batteries have truly revolutionised electronics. they power the mobile miracles that we use every day. they have a high—density, meaning they can store a lot of electricity relative to their small size, so we can easily carry them around and recharge them hundreds of times. inside cells are layers of sheets stacked together, a positive cathode, negative anode, with a separator in between filled with a liquid electrolyte. when a cell is discharged, the movement of ions from one side to the other facilitates the flow of electrons, which then generates current to power devices. during charging, this process is reversed. whoever came up with this must have been a real genius. my name isjohn bannister goodenough and when i was at oxford when we developed the cathodes that enabled the lithium ion battery that you use in your cell telephones

and laptop computers, i didn't really think about whether the battery we were developing would—be a world—famous invention. i've been very pleased to see how it's being developed in the hands of the engineers. it has stood the test of time with electric vehicles today relying on thousands of lithium ion cells for their battery pack modules. the dependence of modern society on fossilfuel energy is not sustainable. and so one of the things we need to do is find storage of electric power generated by alternative energy sources, and also storage batteries that can power an electric vehicle with a competitive price and performance. certainly sounds like doctor goodenough‘s invention has

proved good enough for 37 years, but lithium ion isn't without its problems and that's led some people to look for alternate battery technologies. and this summer the uk government pledged a £250 million into the research and development of battery tech. at the forefront of this research is warwick manufacturing group at the university of warwick. lithium ion batteries do have potential hazards and if you mistreat some of the higher energy chemistries then, yes, you'll see a battery fire and potentially a rupture and so on so there's tight innate chemistries, called iron phosphate chemistries, which are a safe option for using in public transport and so on. as a research centre and a cell manufacturer you can play tunes with the chemistry to basically decide whether safety is your prime goal or your prime criteria or whether performance and energy is. if you look at your periodic table, all the transition metals you see, generally somewhere in the world there is a scientist trying to make

a battery out of those. calcium batteries, aluminium batteries, lithium sulphur batteries, sodium ion, there's a range of different sodium ion batteries and so on. there's a whole range of different chemistries being worked on, so although we're working on lithium ion at the moment and we're persevering with lithium ion, there will be more developments in the future as we move onto different types of chemistries. as the uk's leading automotive battery r&d centre, wmg works at the intersection between scientific research and industry with the likes of nissan and jaguar land rover as close collaborators. here's a module we developed and it represents about a 70—80% improvement on the tesla battery module. that improvement has come about not through changes in the chemistry but changes in the way the module has been constructed. packing the cells tighter together while maintaining safety, improved cooling systems, etc. at the moment, cost and range of new evs and the number

of charging points available to us is an issue. manufacturers like nissan even offer up a replacement diesel or petrol car for customers needing to drive longer distances as part of their promise scheme. as well as batteries, wmg is looking at how our charging behaviour can affect battery life too surprising results. it's made a smart algorithm that shows degradation of a car battery can be reduced by up to 10% over a year if energy is transferred back to the grid. synonymous with evs is tesla, owner of the world's biggest battery factory. due to hit peak production in 2020, the gigafactory aims to produce enough batteries to power half a million new electric cars every year. tesla boss elon musk‘s ambitions go further than revolutionising our cars, though, he wants to rewire our homes too. enter the powerwall, the £6,000 home battery stores energy gathered from solar panels

during the day and when the sun goes down, sustainably powers your pad. it's very straightforward really, not that complicated. from tesla to ikea, there seems to be a growing trend in companies creating home batteries to harness solar power. so how exactly does this work? tech enthusiastic terence has had solar panels for several years. more recently connecting them to a home battery, meaning he can use the power he generates and send excess back to the grid. the battery charged up 1.4 kilowatt hours, which it then used throughout the day, so that saved about 15% on energy bills. he's also using it to power his electric vehicle and thanks to the way that feed—in tariffs currently work in the uk, he's being paid for the power he generates even when he uses it. but of course it's early

days for the technology. one of the things we're going to see over time is these batteries will become cheaper, smaller and higher capacity. at the moment this battery is two kilowatt—hours, which is great, but it's not quite enough for everything we want to do with it. terence is actually taking part in a community trial taking place in the rose hill area of oxford. while the usual costs for installation of solar panels and a moixa battery would be £5,000, here the cost of batteries is subsidised and a network has been created meaning power can be economically shared between the 82 homes, a school and a community centre that are taking part. my house generates more power than i can use so why not store it and sell it back to the grid? why not give it to my neighbours when we've got surplus? and i understand you've also

hooked it up to alexa? alexa, how is the battery? alexa: battery is at 2196 capacity right now. in this area, where many are living in fuel poverty, the community element of the project seems to be appreciated too. and here at this school, they're also treating it as a learning experience. here in this year 6 classroom you can see the solar panels out of the window and here is the battery that's harnessing the power. now, this power is actually being used for the lighting in this room but the whole setup also teaches the kids how this works. i think it's a really good way of teaching children not to waste electricity. we are very happy that our school is powered by solar panels. swedish giant ikea are now selling

home batteries too using the same premise of harnessing solar power and that providing electricity consumable by the homeowner, claiming the average uk home could up to £560 a year from their electricity bills. meanwhile british company powerbolt are working on giving older electric vehicle batteries a second life as home batteries. while after eight to ten years of road use a battery could start to deteriorate, it seems it could still be used in the home where demands are less strenuous, giving it an extra decade of use. after being taken from the vehicles they are checked electorally, graded, reformatted and stacked together to create energy storage systems for the home. of course, as battery costs come down and capability increases, the appeal should too.

so whether this idea goes mainstream most likely depends on whether the sun shines over those figures. well, that's it from the dinorwig power station in north wales. what a privilege to visit such an unusual place. feel free to get in touch with us on social media — if you have enough battery, that is. good afternoon. where you get the

sunshine, some lovely colourful displays on show out there where the changing autumn colours. those will disappearfrom changing autumn colours. those will disappear from sight over the next few days, windy weather on the way. areas of low pressure to the west, re m na nts of areas of low pressure to the west, remnants of hurricane maria. remnants of hurricane leak, both will have minimal impact on our weather. big area low—pressure, more ofan weather. big area low—pressure, more of an effect. way out at the moment, not a bad afternoon for much of northern ireland, scotland, eastern england, sunny spells continue. temperatures close to 19. a lot more cloud across wales, the midlands, southwest, outbreaks of rain to end the afternoon. in fact, we started are not self—respect for a time, clear is whether in the north, cloudier further south. later on, northern ireland swapping the clear skies for rain, part of scotland, grampians and also the highlands, temperatures down to three or four celsius. a chilly start of sunday,

the best of your sunday sunshine in the best of your sunday sunshine in the morning, as well, a lot of cloud breaks, northern ireland, the wettest bell will be in the morning. writing up in the afternoon. northern ireland, scotland, heavy burst of rain during the middle part of the day before breakers dyed fish in from the west. much of england and wales will stay with the cloud, rain coming and going, temperatures still 17 to 20 celsius. feeling quite muggy. tropical air with as we finish sunday. replaced with something that initially enlisted across the arctic, a bit of change across the arctic, a bit of change across the arctic, a bit of change across the arctic, a fresher feel the monday. autumn is spinning across the latter, windy conditions monday morning rush hour, winds quite widely. 50, 60 miles an hour. winds gusting over 70 mph, restrictions on the bridges maybe, some trees and branches down as well. across the board though, windy

conditions will prevail sunday to monday, driest towards easton ellis, we will see them outbreaks of rain just push across the south to monday night to tuesday. remnants of hurricane maria, not having much impact, is the parts into france, a ridge of high pressure builds on, if you show was drifting in an north—westerly breeze. a lot of dry and bright weather with some sunny spells. feeling a little bit on the cool side though after a bit of a chilly start. but it's how it is looking. there will be more upbeat throughout the afternoon. —— updates. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3:00pm. ahead of the conservative party conference tomorrow, borisjohnson again intervenes in the brexit debate, but ministers insist everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. what i want from the brexit talks and what borisjohnson wants from the brexit talks, indeed what the whole cabinet wants, is the best possible dealfor britain.

unions have accused the government of an empty, cynical gesture, after ministers confirmed the i% pay cap for teachers and other public sector workers in england and wales could be lifted. wow, you're all still here! ukip‘s new leader henry bolton addresses his party conference in torquay, saying brexit is still the main priority. also in the next hour, spanish police seal off more