Valence's less-explosive lithium-ion batteries

With laptops blowing up left and right, it's no surprise that the same lithium-ion battery technology has been slow to take off in larger applications, like cars, where the danger of spontaneous combustion is even more serious. But as CNET reports, at least one company says they've managed to create a lithium-ion car battery that's safe enough to power your ride. Valence Technology's U-Charge Power System keeps the fireworks in check by using a metal phosphate cathode instead of the cobalt oxide cathode commonly used in lithium-ion batteries. The downside to that choice is that the battery can only store about 75% of the power of traditional batteries, but then again, it won't catch on fire. While the batteries have so far only been put to use in wheelchairs, scooters and hybrid vehicles, the company says that the technology could eventually be adapted for use in laptops -- though we're sure not everyone's gonna be willing to take a performance hit just for a bit more peace of mind.

[Sch�nheitsoperation @ Jul 28th 2006 6:50PM]

great site with good look and information...i like it

[Michel Witt @ Jul 28th 2006 6:51PM]

As much as I hate pointing out dupes, there was an article in wired talking about this very same technology about two(2) years ago.

[kaztm @ Jul 28th 2006 6:52PM]

Sixty seconds of search tells me that:

Hitachi had its Li-Ion battery for hybrid automobiles since October, 2003:
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/031022d.html

Yuasa since December, 2003:
http://www.yuasa-jpn.co.jp/topick/top20031209.html

and Sanyo since 2005:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/EVENT_LEAF/20051021/109931/

What is so special about Valence's version?

[Templedog @ Jul 28th 2006 7:08PM]

So when does the DELL LAPTOP version come out?

[Lee Gibson @ Jul 28th 2006 7:26PM]

Geek, Kazlm, let me read to you.

"Valence Technology's U-Charge Power System keeps the fireworks in check by using a metal phosphate cathode instead of the cobalt oxide cathode commonly used in lithium-ion batteries."

[Joseph @ Jul 28th 2006 7:37PM]

From http://www.military-information-technology.com/print_article.cfm?DocID=990 :

Safety is another important issue in battery development. Most lithium-ion rechargeable batteries use carbon as the cathode and alternate layers of cobalt oxide and lithium as the anode. The exchange of lithium ions between the cathode and anode recharges the battery.

But cobalt oxide is sensitive to heat spikes under high processing demands. Heat spikes or a short inside a cobalt or metal-oxide battery can trigger thermal runaway, which, when caught on fire, feeds itself with its own oxygen.

“If your notebook battery pack had a thermal runaway event, you could throw it to the bottom of a swimming pool and it would still burn at 800 degrees Celsius. Now imagine yourself sitting in a vehicle that has 1,000 of those cobalt batteries with thermal runaway events, and you’d be sitting in the bottom of a crater,” said Joe Lamoreux, the chief operating officer of battery maker Valence Technology.

[kaztm @ Jul 29th 2006 8:06PM]

Sorry, Lee,
I was under the impression that Yuasa's Co-Mn-Ni composite hydroxide would reduce fire, but I cannot remember where I read that, and my Chemistry is rusty.

"Development of Lithium-Ion Battery"EX25A"with New Positive Active Material of LiCoxMnyNizO2 (x+y+z=1)"
http://www.fujipress.jp/finder/xslt.php?mode=present&inputfile=YUASA000100010005.xml

[mark yates @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:55AM]

Valenece's battery also have a cycle life of 1000's of charges with only a 10% drop in capacity compared to a 25% drop in capacity after 300-600 charges for traditional NiCD, NiMH, Lithium-ion, lithium polymer batteries... ie. for a car 100 miles per charge x 2000 charge cycles = 200,000+ miles for a 10% drop in capacity! Thats good driving! (The Prius with NiMH gets around this by only using 20% of the NiMH capacity).

[neel @ Aug 24th 2008 3:23PM]

once you have a safe battery power source/you can recharge the same wioth dynamos or alternators when a vehicle is moving=perpetual motion
THAI MEANS THERE IS NO NEED TO KEEP RECHAR5GING WHEN THE BATTERY IS NOT IN USE


PL PASS ON THIS IDEA TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSS

THANKS
REGARDS