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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kolo55 who wrote (4283)	9/28/1998 8:03:00 PM
From: Tmoore	Respond to of 27311

New article on LPB: In batteries, materials matter Linnea Brush All the major suppliers of lithium-ion batteries are Japanese-Panasonic, Sanyo, Sony, Toshiba. If you include nickel/metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries, a few non-Japanese enter the ring, but Japanese manufacturers still hold claim to more than 63% of the market. When it comes to rechargeable batteries, no one can come close to the Japanese. Or can they? I recently attended the relatively new Annual Nagoya International Battery and Power Sources Conference in Japan. Organized by a multinational committee representing Asia, Europe, and the United States, the conference is based on the premise that Japanese companies need new materials, new parts, and even new ideas and technologies from other areas of the world. Japan may manufacture most of the world's rechargeable batteries, but it doesn't develop most of the breakthrough battery chemistries. The Nagoya conference focused on emerging battery chemistries and materials for electric vehicles, telephones, computers, and energy storage. In general, non-Japanese companies seem to develop the battery technologies, while the Japanese focus on improving battery materials. An obvious example is lithium-polymer batteries. Companies such as Bellcore, HydroQuebec, Lithium Technologies, Moltech, PolyPlus, 3M, Ultralife, and Valence Technology are all developing lithium-polymer technologies. No one has any prior experience manufacturing these cells, so each company's manufacturing technique differs. For this reason, production quantities of sample cells are limited. A more fully commercialized challenger to lithium-ion is zinc-air. Electric Fuel Corp. considers zinc-air batteries to be a lightweight, low-cost alternative to both lithium and alkaline batteries. Because of their high energy density, Electric Fuel's zinc-air batteries are a contender in the emerging battery-technology wars. But these batteries aren't rechargeable, so whether or not they are truly lower-cost in the long run is open to debate. Back in the lithium camp, Moltech has come up with 2-V lithium cells made from a proprietary lithium-polymer chemistry. Designed for mobile phones, Moltech's cells, which are currently shipping in OEM samples, are 4 mm thick with 800-mAh capacity. Since 2 V is the new IC voltage, the cells don't have to be stepped down like the typical 3.4- to 6-V Li-Ion cell. The 2-V lithium cells use a composite electrolyte that acts as the separator in the cell. Moltech claims the cells will be very price-competitive with Li-Ion. Alkaline-battery makers face strong competition for market share, which is why clever marketing campaigns are critical. Duracell currently has the largest share of the alkaline-cell market. Although alkaline-battery manufacturers want to replace zinc-carbon batteries with alkaline devices, they're not interested in replacing them with rechargeable alkalines because these batteries don't provide enough profit, according to Dr. K. Kordesch of the Technical University, Graz, Austria. My vote for most promising new technology goes to a battery that hasn't been developed yet: the lithium-air cell. Theoretically, this battery would be lighter in weight and offer higher energy density than anything currently on the market. After all, it would combine two of the lightest materials available. I'm not aware of any company doing research on these cells, but no doubt some academic institution is investigating the possibilities. I'm sure, though, there will be more challengers to the battery crown before then. Tmoore