A Battery Breakthrough Could End Lithium-Ion’s Reign

Potassium batteries are coming for the throne

Photo: Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images

Chances are, if you own a smartphone or laptop, much of your life revolves around a lithium-ion battery. It’s just as likely that you know about this battery’s downsides: It eventually stops holding a charge, lithium is scarce and mining it is horrible for the environment, and sometimes, it blows…