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The Next Notebook Battery? Lithium Polymer
Lewis Clarke writes "Sony is changing its course to use an old technology for its new battery manufacturing. ZDNet is reporting on comments from Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow, where he said that Notebook makers will 'likely' soon choose to incorporate lithium polymer batteries (a battery technology that emerged nine years ago) over the current commonly used type, lithium ion batteries." From the article: "Lithium polymer batteries use lithium as an active ingredient. Lithium is a volatile material, but the lithium in these batteries isn't packed into cells as it is in lithium ion batteries. Instead, it is contained in a polymer gel. These gel batteries can't provide the same sort of energy density as lithium ion batteries, but that's now a plus."
Why not use dilithium, instead?
Li-Poly batteries have been around awhile. Hobbyists were the first I know to use them. I don't know that they have improved in safety issues over the last few years, but perhaps you should see the following
5 1687
example of a li-poly flame out before buying li-poly batteries?
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1
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Is it just me or do others start to feel nervous when Sony start trying to push new battery technology..?
Less power and less bang for the buck? Can't wait for the marketing people to spin that one.
unless things have changed, i remember that the original iPod used a Lithium-polymer battery and i've heard that the useful lifetime of the battery wasn't that great (less than 50% usable capasity after 1 year), which prompted Apple to switch to a regular lithium-ion for the 2nd and later generations.
has anything changed with this or is what i've heard BS?
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High end notebooks from Dell, IBM, and possibly others all use lithium polymer batteries for their drivebay batteries, where space is extremely tight and the geometry is suboptimal for cylindrical cells. Li-polymer batteries can be made into very thin shapes and don't need a metal case to contain individual cells. Because of this, the energy density is actually higher. I think the reason they're not in widespread use is simply that they cost more.
No, that's not "a plus." That's a cost-benefit tradeoff on the manufacturing side, and a risk-reward proposal on the end-user side. Lower energy density means either shorter battery life or heavier laptops. I don't think anyone would call either of those results a "plus." They're tradeoffs.
Moreover, there are plenty of Li-ion batteries out there that haven't overheated, burned, detonated, or imploded into naked singularities causing the annihilation of life as we know it. Which means, for those batteries, you get to have longer battery life or lighter laptops sans the death and destruction result, so the move from that state to the proposed solution isn't even a tradeoff, it's a pure loss.
Covering for the inadequacy of your manufacturing/QC processes by making a worse product that's easier to make doesn't translate into a "plus." It sounds to me that the real plus would be if they moved to a power source they've obviously got in plenty - though I think the name "spintronics" has already been taken.
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
You mean "current notebook battery"?
I'm typing this on a c2d MacBook Pro which lists a lithium polymer battery as its spec. Third bullet line down on that page. I also have a 5GB iPod that uses a lithium polymer battery. Apple went Li-Ion for later iPods, probably for higher capactiy, but I'm on my second battery in 5 years and it gives me more than 8 hours of playtime (haven't tested it beyond that).
I guess that means Apple isn't using Sony for its current batteries?
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In some ways. It's the same thing, really, but packaged two different ways. Both are often called Li-Ion batteries, cause they are. The main two advantages of Lithium Polymer are:
(A) They can be shaped in all kinds of odd shapes, which is a benefit when you also pack some circuitry inside the battery package, or have to use space as best you can.
(B) They are less likely to explode, as there's resistance in the gel medium itself that hinders (if not completely prevents) a chain reaction.
The main downside to Li-Polymer is that it is less efficient by volume and weight.
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I know the model RC community does. Higher end planes and helicopters, especially the all electric ones, tend to use LiPo batteries.
What scares me though... many many reports of fires due to overcharging (shoddy chargers). It is suggested to always charge the LiPos in a 'battery bunker', a clay pot filled with sand, with a lid.
Isn't that what they were trying to prevent with the new laptops?
As my name implies I fly R/C aircraft as a hobby. Within the last few years electric powered models have really taken off. Most of this is due to the Li-Po battery. Lithium Polymer batteries are a subset of Lithium Ion batteries but the design of the cells are different.
Li-Po batteries are small and light and can produce a higher continue current than lithium ion. They are very powerful batteries.
One of the problems though...and why I generally stay away from them is that they explode. They can easily become unstable if dropped (or crashed). I don't claim to be an expert but the cells in a lithium ion battery are metal - they can sustain an impact and vibration where as the cells in a lithium polymer are mostly plastic which can cause a mix of the chemicals inside and cause the battery to heat up until it vents and then explodes.
Fire caused by overcharging
Video of a lipo battery going bad.
Actually Lipo are more likely to explode. Most Lipo battery cells contain plastic whereas lithium ion cells are metal.
Lipo battery warning for R/C aviation
I use both battery types in various aircraft. The lithium polymer is much less stable. I've seen a pack swell and be ready to vent just by knocking one off of a table onto the ground. Lithium ion will not do this. Also, keep in mind that any battery will explode if you overcharge it.
The main downside to Li-Polymer is that it is less efficient by volume and weight.
This, I think, is not true. LiIons may be more efficient by volume, but LiPos are almost certainly more efficient per weight, because they don't have the cells, or many of the protection mechanisms that LiIon batteries have to have.
The power/weight advantage is why they're used in applications where weight is more important than volume -- R/C aircraft, for instance. When LiPo batteries came out, they basically replaced NiCads and LiIon batteries overnight in most ultralight aircraft and helis, because they're just so much lighter (meaning that if you had an aircraft designed for NiCads, which wasn't atypical, you could get ridiculous flight time by upgrading to LiPoly cells).
But being more efficient per volume, that I could definitely believe.
The other big advantage I have heard is that with LiPo, you don't have to encase the batteries as heavily, so more of the weight and volume can actually be taken up with electricity-storing components, instead of as an 'exoskeleton' providing protection for the cells.
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...if you as a consumer would indicate to the vendors that long range battery life is more important than over-all laptop or cellphone lightness. Are you willing to carry an extra pound or two in weight with your laptop? You can have (potentially) a bigger battery, that might be made better-more rugged-so that it is safer plus has good range. Consumers demand the lightest though (I call it the wimpification of society factor), so the vendors are stuck trying to accomodate that. Let the vendors know, starting at the local retail store and on up, tell them you want better batteries, even though it might be heavier. They won't change unless consumers change, end of story. 3 lb laptop with exploding batteries and no hang time, or maybe a 5 lb laptop that actually works and runs all day and doesn't catch fire. Now, maybe it's just me, but I would prefer the 5 lb model (whatever, units used for demonstration purposes only).
Now I have a beef with the cellphones, with the constantly shrinking size, last two stores I went into had no cell phones that to me are large enough to be useful. I don't want a tiny screen and buttons so small you mash three of them at once..but..that's all I am seeing until you get into the ridiculous price class range of PDAs, and now even those (smartphones) are too small. I'd swap 90% of the non phone call making functions in the phone if it was just a larger and to me a more practical phone. The couple I have now I will hang on to as long as possible because they are still moderately useful, but looking at the trends it looks like they want to embed cellphones into a tooth cavity or something pretty soon. I don't know what Lilliputians they use to test drive these new phones, but they have to be three foot tall max with fingers as big as toothpicks and eyes sharp as eagles.
I'll fly my small foam electric plane with a Li-po 1500 mah 11.4 volt battery for 15 minutes. Tell me if the battery isn't hot ;) Trust me, it gets hot and you cannot re-charge these things until the battery cools down.