Structural Power Technology Turns Car Doors into Batteries

Using a special kind of carbon fiber, British and Swedish researchers have created "structural power technology" that turns bits of a car -- doors, hoods, roofs -- into batteries. Structurally, these carbon fiber parts are identical, except for one small detail: the resin used to bond the fibers is laced with lithium ions. These lithium ions allow the these car body panels to store electricity, like a large capacitor.