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Boston-Power Battery Cells  (Source: News.com)

Alloy Boston-Power Battery Housings  (Source: News.com)
Boston-Power Sonata battery reaches 80% capacity in a 30 minute charge and offers longer run time

Battery maker Boston-Power has recently closed $45 million in third-round funding with investors betting on its newest round of research for fast-recharge batteries.  Whereas some researchers and battery makers change the chemical makeup of their batteries in an attempt to combat fire risk and improve battery life, Boston-Power stuck with the tried and true Lithium-ion technology.

Boston-Power tweaked elements in lithium-ion batteries to build a battery for notebooks that has in the area of 4.4 amp hours of power per cell. Typical common notebook batteries today have only 2.6 amp hours of power by comparison. News.com reports that Boston-Power has signed an agreement with GP Batteries in China that will give it the production capacity to make one million batteries per month by the end of 2008.

With the massive battery recalls due to fire hazard in 2007 lots of attention is focused on the safety factor of lithium-ion batteries. The risk of fire lithium-ion batteries pose has long worried the FAA and air travelers and resulted in new battery bans from the FAA that went into effect on January 1, 2008.

Boston-Power says that it uses a new housing for its battery that is made from a metal alloy, rather than iron and will remain intact in the event of a short circuit. Boston-Power also builds a unique interrupt system into its batteries to shut them down permanently in the case of an impending thermal reaction.

Boston-Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud told CNET she gets four hours out of the Boston-Power Sonata battery in her notebook computer. Another big improvement in the battery is that it can be recharged to 80% capacity in only 30 minutes and can maintain like new performance for three years.

Boston-Power also plans to move into the rechargeable battery market for hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles. The company reports its experimental lithium-ion batteries are capable of power output in the 5 to 10 amp hour range -- enough to power small electric vehicles.


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Kickass
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 1/3/2008 11:59:36 AM , Rating: 2
This is improvement. I expect to see most major notebook makers taking a good hard look at these babies.




RE: Kickass
By Polynikes on 1/3/2008 12:11:36 PM , Rating: 1
And then charging a premium for them.

Gotta love capitalism. :)


RE: Kickass
By FITCamaro on 1/3/2008 12:16:55 PM , Rating: 4
Well you don't spend millions on research for a new product to give it away.


RE: Kickass
By Ringold on 1/3/2008 12:32:16 PM , Rating: 2
Only because we'd allow it. I'd pay a premium for a non-suck battery!

I still plan on getting a 10-inch screen Eee thing if/when it hits the street, I hope it's got one of these in it.. or one of these can be bought for it.

It might not, but unlike 99% of the battery techs we hear about, these guys dont have just a prototype in a university lab working but a Chinese factory ready to saturate the market. So, there's hope...


RE: Kickass
By HaZaRd2K6 on 1/3/2008 1:16:16 PM , Rating: 3
You still trust that Chinese factory ready to flood the market? For all we know, they could end up like quick-recharging time bombs.

And no, I'm not knocking Chinese production capability, just Chinese manufacturers' desire to build a product as cheap as possible without regard for long-term issues that may crop up.

Just ask Mattel :)


RE: Kickass
By FITCamaro on 1/3/2008 1:39:07 PM , Rating: 2
You're not knocking Chinese production capability. Just their quality.

But you're still spot on. They'd leave out the welds on cars and use duct tape if it'd pass safety inspection.


RE: Kickass
By Alexstarfire on 1/6/2008 6:30:33 PM , Rating: 2
I hear that. I won't eat food if it comes from there. I'd rather spend a bit more than worry about if I'm gonna die or not. I've seen the news stories and read about the problems they have. I mean, making soy sauce out of human hair. Jesus.


RE: Kickass
By TomZ on 1/3/2008 2:36:33 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
You still trust that Chinese factory ready to flood the market? For all we know, they could end up like quick-recharging time bombs.

The Chinese manufacturer in this case is GP Batteries, a pretty well-known battery manufacturer that has been around for a while. It's not some unknown fly-by-night company.


RE: Kickass
By InternetGeek on 1/3/2008 10:35:00 PM , Rating: 2
I'd rather have Energizer or some other better known brand building them. I've seen those GP batteries in action and they don't cut it out... except in your wallet.


RE: Kickass
By Randum on 1/3/2008 3:04:45 PM , Rating: 3
sign me up! Hopefully they work with existing notebooks.... *Cough*THINKPADS*Cough*


RE: Kickass
By martinrichards23 on 1/4/2008 6:42:55 AM , Rating: 2
unlikely, to charge that quickly they'd draw more juice than your current notebook would be rated for.


FAA Restriction
By dickeywang on 1/3/2008 12:15:12 PM , Rating: 2
Does it still apply to these new type of batteries?




RE: FAA Restriction
By TomZ on 1/3/2008 12:17:03 PM , Rating: 3
I would guess "yes" since the battery chemistry is the same as existing batteries.


RE: FAA Restriction
By dickeywang on 1/3/2008 12:26:07 PM , Rating: 2
So the battery can hold more power per cell, but doesn't it also means it contains more Lithium? If that's the case, it would mean that you will not be allowed to carry as many as spare batteries with you on the airplane, since the FAA has restriction on the total Lithium(equiv. to the total power) that you are allowed to carry with you?


RE: FAA Restriction
By TomZ on 1/3/2008 12:32:18 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, that's how I would interpret the situation, but I'm not an expert either.


RE: FAA Restriction
By Ringold on 1/3/2008 12:35:21 PM , Rating: 3
Good question, but seriously, is the FAA going to laboriously check every laptop that people try to carry aboard for the grams of lithium present?

I think its one of those rules that sound good for public safety, may or may not really be good, but in reality is just on paper.

Then again I could be wrong and they could be training those TSA guys right now to check labels on laptop batteries or something to make sure the rules are followed... if so, what a waste of time. :\


RE: FAA Restriction
By TomZ on 1/3/2008 1:05:59 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, I find it highly doubtful that FAA or TSA screeners are going to check any details about laptop batteries. That's really impractical. Instead, they will probably just focus on people carrying a quantity of spare batteries and give them some grief.


RE: FAA Restriction
By fic2 on 1/3/2008 2:02:27 PM , Rating: 3
Considering that most FAA "security" screenings miss the fake bombs/knives/guns that they are tested against by the various agencies I kind of doubt they will be able to deal with batteries.

But, don't try to take a bottle of water on a plane. You'll be cuffed in no time.


Another question
By dickeywang on 1/3/2008 12:21:49 PM , Rating: 2
If a single cell can hold 4400mAh of power, why the experiment battery can only hold 5-10mAh? I thought even they only build a 3-cell battery, it will be something like 13000mAh (The top photo shows the battery has 6-cell I guess). Is it a typo or did I miss something here?




RE: Another question
By dickeywang on 1/3/2008 12:26:58 PM , Rating: 2
I mean the experiment battery has 5-10 Ah.


RE: Another question
By maverick85wd on 1/3/2008 5:27:26 PM , Rating: 2
I think they mean 5-10 Ah/cell.