They've done it again: The battery barons of Stanford, led by Yi Cui, have created what those in the industry call the 'Holy Grail' of lithium-ion battery design. In specific, they've finally worked out how to create a rugged lithium electrode that can increase the capacity of a lithium-ion battery by three to four times -- as in, this lithium electrode, on its own, could increase the battery life of your smartphone by three times, or significantly reduce the size and cost of an electric car's battery pack.