New Batteries Promise 2.5 Times Longer Uptime

DarrylM writes: "CBC News has this story about the opening of a factory for new rechargeable batteries. They are supposed to be capable of supplying a laptop with power for 12-16 hours. The batteries are manufactured by electrofuel Inc., and come in various sizes. They will also produce batteries for phones, and hope to eventually provide battery power for bikes and cars." Sounds promising -- more power, smaller package is always nice. I wonder what sort of power draw they're expecting from a laptop though; will low-power chips like the Crusoe extend those hours, or is a trend toward more efficient chips already taken optimistically into account?

Comments

Re:Great batteries already unused

[Daniel Rutter]

> They can be recharged about twice before that memory effect kicks in.

This is a popular myth.

Check out http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_NiCd_Memory.html and the full NiCd Battery Frequently Asked Questions file at http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_NiCd_Battery.html before you flame me about this.

Translation of the article into English

[hawk]

First stage:
There is no memory effect; what is perceived as memory effect is a result of overcharging.

Second stage (going between the lines):
There are no consumer available chargers or computers that will charge properly; they all overcharge:

Final step (in english):
The life of your NiCad will drop quickly in any normal use in any available product with any available charger.

Hardly new

[Arlet]

This story from more than a year ago already mentions this technology. Apparently it's Lithium based.

Nothing new

[Argy]

This is just a puff PR piece. The basic trick is that it's a BIG honkin' external battery (2.5-3 pounds, more than some laptops), shaped so it "matches the footprint of most portable computers."

While their site doesn't say for sure, this sounds like a recent trend, using a lithium ion battery with some polymer technique to make solid leak-proof batteries in extremely irregular shapes, like plastic. It is a cool thing, and can help designers squeeze extra use out of a device's space, but I don't see what these guys have added other than making it the size of a laptop.

They aren't claiming better energy densities than other lithium ion batteries, they just compare their battery's life (watt hours) against "ordinary" (presumably old nicad) laptop (presumably internal) batteries.

Maybe not a bad product, but this is a marketing effort, not a scientific breakthrough.

Re:Great batteries already unused

[Technician]

Most laptops do not run on 1.25 volts. Adding batteries in series does not increase the AH rating. It only increases the voltage. 5 1.25 volt 1100mAH batteries connected in series makes one 6.25 volt 1100mAH battery pack. Don't compare penlight batteries with computer battery packs and expect the Ampere Hour rating to indicate the Watt Hours avaliable. Volts X Ampere Hours = Watt Hours. Use this math to compare how much power you need to replace your battery pack. You may discover you neet 5 to 10 times as many as you thought you needed to reach 6 - 12 volts of most battery packs. Soon the huge space in the battery pack starts to look very cramped.

Crusoe

[roguerez]

Although the Crusoe is a low-power chip, a device carrying one might not have a longer battery life than a normal notebook. This is because the Crusoe is usually used in very small devices with a small battery.

For example, I own a Crusoe-powered picturebook which has a battery life of about 2 - 2.5 hours with a standard battery. The older picturebook with PII/400 had about 1 - 1.5 hours life if I'm not mistaken.

So the net result is a gain in battery life due to use of the Crusoe, but it's still not that long a time. Because the picturebook, including standard battery, weighs only 1 kg.

So the advantages of using a low-power chip can also be used for lightness/smallness instead of long use.

Nifty idea, but potential problems

[Goonie]

BTW, we already make internal combustion engines almost that small - model aircraft engines are tiny. These things are undoubtedly smaller and simpler again, and I can think of a large variety of applications, but . . .

• How do you dissipate the heat? Laptops already have heat problems.
• Won't the exhaust fumes smell kinda bad - not to mention be a safety risk in enclosed environments?
• What's the total mass when you throw in a generator?
• How much would a model big enough to power a laptop weigh?
• How much space and weight does the total system (generator, engine, and fuel) take up?

This might be a goer in certain applications (a portable drill, particularly if combined with a small high-current battery or capacitor, for instance), but I can't see it replacing a laptop battery. A micro-sized fuel cell might be a different story, though :)

Go you big red fire engine!