Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Technology Stocks & Market Talk With Don Wolanchuk -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (29927)	3/5/2008 12:44:03 PM
From: Cheeky Kid	Respond to of 206761

Dell, HP, IBM, Toshiba, etc, all make computers. I don't think the battery market will be dominated by one player.

To: Sam Citron who wrote (29927)	3/5/2008 1:23:32 PM
From: Cheeky Kid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206761

news.com A favorite of notebook makers and consumer electronics manufacturers, lithium-ion batteries can hold more energy than competing types of batteries. Unfortunately, they also come with a glaring side effect. They can short on occasion, resulting in a "runaway thermal reaction" in industry parlance. In layman's terms, that's a fire or an explosion. Recalls in 2006 cost Sony millions of dollars. Some companies have tinkered with the internal chemistry of the batteries. Notebooks contain lithium cobalt batteries. Altair Nanotechnologies and EnerDel have devised lithium titanate batteries, while others have come up with lithium potassium batteries. The change in chemistry lowers the risk of explosions, but also lowers the energy density. Lower energy density directly leads to lower mileage or runtime on laptops. Others are looking at getting rid of lithium altogether and switching to a rechargeable zinc battery. By contrast, Boston-Power has largely kept the internal chemistry the same and instead fine-tuned the other elements that make up a battery. (Lampe-Onnerud and other members of the Boston-Power executive team have worked in the lithium-ion industry for years.) The can, or outside casing around the battery cells, on the Sonata is made from a metal alloy that is stronger than the iron cans used with conventional notebook batteries and, thus, will remain intact in the case of a thermal reaction or fire, according to the company.

To: Sam Citron who wrote (29927)	3/5/2008 1:56:03 PM
From: da_cheif™	Respond to of 206761

thank you for your concern......we can find all the reasons in the world to worry about the future of vlnc on the yahoo thread......as far as rah rah...its been a feature since the mid 90.s......this is the only board i know of that devotes its time to the positive aspects of vlnc....negatives or perceived negatives are a dime a dozen.........

To: Sam Citron who wrote (29927)	3/5/2008 7:00:46 PM
From: steve	Respond to of 206761

>>If this were to somehow change and lithium ion batteries could be made to be safe,... Sam, Take a look at the following links. Valence batteries are safe. The only incident I've seen/heard of so far is when an idiot went swimming with his Segway. He seemed to think that electricity & H2O was a good mix. From the pictures I saw, It looks more like the circuit boards fried then cells exploding, but that's just my opinion since I claim no expertise. Valence Technology - Potential Hazards page valence.com Safety Video (Can also be found on U-Tube) valence.com Independent Testing - Exponent Report "Exponent recently completed a testing report comparing selected lithium-ion battery chemistries. The comparative testing included three primary tests performed on the batteries. The Crush Test showed that Valence phosphate cells did not reach temperatures sufficiently high enough to cause melting or ejecting, flaming and/or burning debris. In addition, the peak external temperature of the Valence phosphate cells was more than 100°C below the temperature required to initiate thermal runaway. The External Heat Test showed that the peak temperature reached by the Valence phosphate cells was several hundred degrees lower than the cells of the other chemistries tested, and no ignition of nearby combustible material was observed during venting. The Accelerating Rate Calorimetry test (ARC) was conducted to determine the rate of temperature increase and evaluates a material's reactivity/ instability under elevated temperature conditions to assess any potential hazards for such material. Valence phosphate chemistry showed a much lower self-heating rate, more than 100 times slower, compared to either commercially available lithium cobalt oxide/mixed metal oxide cell chemistry tested.. Based on these results, it is the opinion of Exponent that it is "improbable" that Valence's lithium phosphate batteries will incur the thermal runaway that causes other batteries to burst into flames or explode." Prepared by Noah Budiansky, Ph.D. Quinn Horn, Ph.D. Xiaoyun Hu Kevin White, Ph.D. Exponent 21 Strathmore Road Natick, MA 01760 July 11, 2007 © Exponent, Inc. valence.com