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Technology Stocks : Energy Conversion Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ray who wrote (3960)	8/24/1999 7:33:00 AM
From: fred whitridge	Respond to of 8393

Ray-- I agree on the specsmanship of battery mfgs. Remember there are liars, damn liars, and battery manufacturers. One of the huge tricks the Lithium boys use is to exclude the cost, weight, and size of the charge control doodads that every pack of LiOn and LiPoly require internal to the pack. That way they are quoting a net energey density, volumetric efficiency, and cost rather than the gross. Also, take a look in the 10k's of Ultralife and Valence. Hmmmm, funny....the FAA and its international equivalent don't allow shipment of Lithium batteries (LiOn or LiPoly I believe) by air. Hmmmm, why is that? Feel good when you see the entire business class section of the plane (ValueJet? SwissAir?) plugging in their laptops for a little recharge? I personally believe we are, unfortunately, one significant lithium end use accident away from their total ban in some geographic regions and/or some applications. Don't be lulled by the LiPoly claims. Their principal claim to fame is getting rid of an aequeous flamable organic electrolyte which had nasty properties when it was vented on overcharge. Sure LiPoly is BETTER, but is there no circumstance in which Lithium can plate out? No circumstance in which it can catch fire? For safety (and cost and volume efficiency) give me NiMh any day. I think the thread is actually pretty WELL versed in competing battery technologies. For myself I am more worried about incursions into our space by the low end than from the high end. I spend a lot of time looking at NiZn where the cost claims are becoming less agressive and the cycle life is now being quoted more realistically. This is the chemistry that worries me, not the Lithiums...