<I WON'T defer to LiPoly however. Tried to buy insurance for a lithium plant lately? Read about the conflagrations at Sony (big one),Valence, Ultralife and others? Read about the airline safety crusades where COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS are saying please don'trecharge our lithium batteries in flight? Listened to the Ft. Lauderdale battery conference where our very own Mike Fetcenko said that ourNiMh has more volumetric density than Lithium?>
I am aware of the objections to lithium batteries you repeat. However, Lithium POLYMER batteries do NOT, as nearly as I can tell, have the hazards you mention. Lithium Ion (LiIon) batteries do have significant hazard issues, apparently, but not LiPoly. The factory-level hazards that exist due to handling raw lithium during processing steps are another matter; but this has not prevented production from commencing at a substantial level.
As for even late-model Ovonic NiMH batteries having more volumetric efficiency than LiPoly batteries, don't blindly count on this. I believed this for a while, but recent (last six months, say) VLNC LiPoly specs I have seen indicate that the two technologies are close in this respect -- with the more advanced LiPoly batteries quite possibly ahead. I know full well that "specsmanship" prevails strongly in the battery world, but I have allowed for this as best and honestly as I can -- and I think the VLNC LiPoly batteries are a realistic near-future threat to the present contemplated Ovonic battery dominance. I could be wrong, of course, but I am speaking from the best assessment I can make at this time.
It is my opinion that the group is generally not following the LiPoly technology with sufficient diligence. I would appreciate more effort in this direction by the other members.
Ray |
