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Toshiba's Super Charge Ion Battery gets 90% full in 10 minutes

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 5th 2008 at 5:30AM

Imagine this -- you, sitting in a dingy airport terminal waiting on your flight with a lifeless laptop and just 10 minutes to spare. You've got oodles of spreadsheet work to do before 8:00AM tomorrow, and unless you get it done on this flight, you're fubared. Toshiba is looking to make said scenario seem like one that's not so grim, as its prototype SCIB (Super Charge Ion Battery) purportedly has the potential to get 90% full in just 10 minutes. The battery was unveiled at CEATEC 2008 in Japan, though little was known about its eventual availability. Shame development cycles can't be fast tracked in a similar manner, huh?

[Via UberReview]

Schwinn debuts Toshiba-powered Tailwind electric bike

by Donald Melanson, posted Sep 25th 2008 at 12:59PM

Schwinn has been pretty big on electric bicycles for some time now, but it seems to be particularly excited about its new Tailwind bike, which it says "sets a new standard for the electric bike industry." That boasting is apparently due in large part to the bike's use of Toshiba's newfangled Super Charge ion Battery (or SCiB), which has a promised 30-minute recharge time, or about an eighth of that of competing bikes. The rest of the bike's specs also look to be up to Schwinn's usual high standards, and include a Shimano Nexus 8-speed internal geared rear hub, a brushless motor with 180 watts of continuous power or 250 watts at peak power, a rear roller brake system, double wall alloy rims, and Continental Town Ride tires, to name but a few premium features. Just don't expect any of that to come cheap, as the bike is set to retail for $3,199 when it hits shops early next year.

Toshiba's Super Charge Li-ion batteries: will crush, won't explode

by Thomas Ricker, posted Dec 12th 2007 at 5:46AM

Surely you remember the fear and lawsuits resulting from the 06/07 Lithium-battery fiasco? Who could forget. That's why Toshiba's going out of its way to assure us that their new "Super Li-ion" batteries (SCiBs) revealed yesterday will not result in an equally super meltdown. The new SCiBs feature a high flash point and separator with high heat resistance. As such, they are far less likely to suffer a thermal runaway resulting from a short-circuit. Don't believe us though, check the pneumatic, crush-test from Tosh after the break. We've even thrown in the ol' exploding laptop video for comparison. Ah, those were the days.

Continue reading Toshiba's Super Charge Li-ion batteries: will crush, won't explode

Toshiba launching SCiB batteries in March: 5 min charge, 10 year lifespan

by Thomas Ricker, posted Dec 11th 2007 at 3:12AM

How does this sound: a battery capable of recharging to 90% in under 5 minutes while remaining useful (i.e., 5,000+ recharges) for 10 years or more? Sounds like the stuff of jetpacks and food replicators right? Nope... March, 2008. It was a long, long time ago when we first brought you news of these so-called "Super Li-ion" batteries. In March of 2005 to be exact. Now they're here, courtesy of Toshiba who just announced their Super Charge ion Batteries, or SCiBs. The wee 2.4V version measures 62 x 95 x 13-mm / 150-grams while the big, bad 24V version measures in at 100 x 300 x 45-mm and 2000-grams. Oh, and they won't short-circuit and explode. The problem? The first production run is for industrial-use (non-CE) class devices like hybrid cars and the like. Oh pretty please Toshiba, with sugar, won't you make a laptop version?