Mya Le Thai holds her invention. (Steve Zylius, UC Irvine)

Since most household electronics have life spans limited by factors besides battery life, a battery that lasts for a decade or two could easily outlive the device it powers.

“If you could get 100,000 cycles out of a lithium ion battery it might mean you never need to buy two of them,” Penner says. “We’re talking about a lifetime of 20 years, maybe even longer than that.”

Source: Did Scientists Stumble on a Battery that Lasts Forever? | Innovation | Smithsonian