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Lithium-ion batteries continue to be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons— the latest being fatal crashes and fires in the US and Europe.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed it is investigating a crash involving a 2014 Tesla Model S in Florida, which was “reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck a wall resulting in a post-crash fire”.

A new US-Korean joint venture has announced plans to launch a major lithium-ion batteries recycling operation in the US.

Metallica Commodities Corp (MCC) and SungEel HiTech said the new company, SungEel MCC Americas (SMA), will “redefine” the lithium-ion battery, e-waste recycling, energy and metals markets in North America— “where consumption of cobalt and lithium has outpaced supply in recent years”.

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) say they have discovered a new approach for developing a rechargeable non-aqueous magnesium-metal battery.

In a proof-of-concept paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry, the research team said they have pioneered a method to enable the reversible chemistry of magnesium metal in the noncorrosive carbonate-based electrolytes and tested the concept in a prototype cell.

South Korean lead-acid battery maker ATLASBX is investing $75 million to open its first manufacturing plant in the US.

Tennessee state governor Bill Haslam confirmed the firm expected to complete construction of the plant in Clarksville, Montgomery Country, by 2020.

Researchers in the US say they have designed a new “true” lithium-air battery that works in a natural air environment and can still function “after a record-breaking 750 charge/discharge cycles”.

The team from Chicago’s University of Illinois and the Argonne National Laboratory performed an “architectural design overhaul” of the battery tech for its design— which is reported in a paper published in the journal Nature.