but that the thrust generated for a given amount of electrical energy is greater. There were no specifics and perhaps it's too soon to speculate. You can build more powerful ion engines by increasing the electricity (the "up to 100 kW" mentioned in the articles) but this new technique seems more efficiency at converting electrical energy into thrust. Very cool.

I don't know how long it'll be before the idea is ready to test in space. Let's hope it isn't nearly as long as ion propulsion (developed in the early 1960s, not flown on a major mission until 2001). Perhaps they can get a flight ready test article ready within a few years and launch it on a technology demonstrator satellite. If it works as hoped, it could be very significant for deep space missions if you have a good electrical supply, say some form of reactor. For missions closer to the Sun, new generation solar panels (like those used on DS-1) could do the trick.