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  (Source: Martin LaMonica/CNET News)
Medis Power Pack fuel cell can't be refilled

The world of portable devices is ripe for a change from battery power to alternate power sources. Many technology fans who own the latest and greatest gadgets are already early adopters who would be more likely to try new power sources like fuel cells or solar power.

One of the first commercial applications for a fuel cell available at retail outlets comes from a company called Medis Technologies. CNET News reporter Martin LaMonica got his hands on one of the Medis 24-7 Power Pack fuel cell chargers and tried the little device out.

The fuel cell measures 3.8-inches H x 2.67-inches W x 1.44-inches D and can provide electrical output of 3.6-5.45 volts at up to 220mA. Nominal power for the fuel cell is up to 1 Watt. The fuel cell costs $40 for a starter pack including several adapters for different devices like an iPod and cell phones. A replacement fuel cell is $20.

Most fuel cells -- like the Sony fuel cell -- are powered by methanol. The Medis fuel cell is powered by a solution of sodium borohydride. Once activated, the fuel cell begins producing electricity immediately and will last about three months. The fuel cell is good for about 18 months before it is activated.

The power output is reported to be enough to recharge many mobile devices several times before the fuel cell runs out of fuel. LaMonica reports that the Medis 24-7 Power Pack charged his half-full iPod touch to full capacity in about an hour -- about as quickly as the AC charger shipped with the touch can charge in.

Certainly, the biggest drawback to the Medis 24-7 Power Pack is that you can't simply refill the fuel cell. You have to purchase a new one and Medis wants consumers to mail the original fuel cell back for recycling. In the future Medis plans to develop a fuel cell that can be refilled. It also has plans to develop a fuel cell that produces 20W of power -- enough to run a laptop for 8 hours.

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I see
By Gzus666 on 9/12/2008 12:04:03 PM , Rating: 2
I have to admit, this is kinda cool. Makes me wonder what happens to the old fuel cells though. Might be more interested when the technology progresses more.




RE: I see
By Gzus666 on 9/12/2008 12:07:35 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I'm oblivious, just noticed the part about recycling after you are done with them.


RE: I see
By monomer on 9/12/2008 12:23:27 PM , Rating: 2
While this looks pretty cool at first glance, the article doesn't state anywhere what kind of capacity the fuel cell has. It turns out that when looking at Power Capacity/Dollar, the performance is pretty dismal when compared to standard batteries. Check out Dan's Data for a quicky overview and an update:

http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/08/23/another-fo...
http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/09/news-flash...


RE: I see
By Gzus666 on 9/12/2008 12:29:00 PM , Rating: 2
Yea, I didn't figure it would be better than batteries for power for the price. I just thought the idea was pretty cool. It obviously needs to advance to make it worth it.


RE: I see
By Solandri on 9/12/2008 2:51:09 PM , Rating: 2
Capacity/Dollar is usually a poor measure to compare batteries. Regardless of the differences in battery prices, they are all vastly overpriced in terms of the amount of electricity they carry. Alkalines may cost $0.13 per watt-hour, but you're still paying the equivalent of $1200 to carry around $1 worth of electricity in portable form.

In other words, you've already conceded that the value of the battery has little to nothing to do with the electricity it carries. The value is in other factors like portability and endurance. If capacity/dollar were a major concern, you'd be plugging the device into a wall socket.


RE: I see
By murphyslabrat on 9/12/2008 7:21:08 PM , Rating: 2
Or, you could make the assumption that everyone else made, and read capacity to mean the length of time it can power the device.


RE: I see
By Solandri on 9/13/2008 2:05:42 PM , Rating: 2
That's what I'm saying. Capacity is a very relevant measure. Capacity/Dollar is not.

If you have a 4400 mAh battery that costs $80, and a 8800mAh battery that costs $160, obviously the second battery has twice the capacity and thus will let you power the device for twice as long. You may look at that and say, "Yeah, I need the extra battery life, and it's worth $80 extra to me."

But in terms of Capacity/Dollar, they are identical - 55 mAh/$. By that measure, it doesn't matter which battery you get. Which isn't true because other things are much more important to your selection than Capacity/Dollar.


RE: I see
By JustTom on 9/14/2008 12:43:46 AM , Rating: 2
Of course capacity per dollar is relevant. If I changed your example to 4400 mAh at $80 and 8800 mAh for $400 this become obvious.

Your example is limited simply because your artificially set price per dollar identically between the batteries. This is hardly a given.


RE: I see
By Solandri on 9/14/2008 5:33:51 AM , Rating: 2
I never said capacity per dollar is not relevant. I said it's much less relevant than other factors, and the analysis on Dan's Data was misleading because it dismissed this product solely on the basis of capacity/dollar. i.e. He's essentially claiming that the only factor that matters is capacity/dollar.

Even in your example, if someone really wants the doubled battery life, they are going to pay for the bigger battery. They're not going to care that it's 22 mAh/$ vs 55 mAh/$. The overall capacity trumps capacity/dollar as a factor.


RE: I see
By Solandri on 9/14/2008 5:42:08 AM , Rating: 2
Oh, I see why you got confused. I wrote:
quote:
Capacity is a very relevant measure. Capacity/Dollar is not.

Which means: "Capacity is a very relevant measure. Capacity/Dollar is not a very relevant measure."

But I can see how you could've misread that as "Capacity/Dollar is not relevant." Sorry I didn't write that more clearly.


RE: I see
By JustTom on 9/14/2008 2:43:00 PM , Rating: 2
I understand your point. However, in many situation capacity per dollar is the most important measure. In some cases it is actual cost. And in some it is capacity.

Depending on the target market each item has different importance. There are markets where absolute capacity is the most important, in others it is capacity per dollar, and in still others it is the lowest absolute price.


Can you take it on a plane
By CardPuncher on 9/12/2008 12:31:49 PM , Rating: 2
The one place that this may be of use is on a plane for long flights, but will it pass security ?




RE: Can you take it on a plane
By Murloc on 9/12/2008 1:21:25 PM , Rating: 3
no, it's methanol, you could use it to explode hostess's head.


RE: Can you take it on a plane
By ebakke on 9/12/08, Rating: 0
RE: Can you take it on a plane
By Gzus666 on 9/12/2008 2:24:11 PM , Rating: 3
I'm sure he could have, but that would have been about 99% less funny. I'm pretty sure he was using something us humans call humor.


RE: Can you take it on a plane
By ebakke on 9/15/2008 9:09:28 AM , Rating: 1
Apparently I missed the memo. I didn't realize exploding someone's head was funny.


RE: Can you take it on a plane
By Smartless on 9/12/2008 2:10:51 PM , Rating: 4
I think this one is made from Sodium Borohydride. Not as explosive but maybe you can dissolve her head. Oops sorry too much detail?


RE: Can you take it on a plane
By vapore0n on 9/12/2008 2:42:04 PM , Rating: 2
of course not

you need to dump your fuel cell and buy an overpriced re branded one after you pass the checkpoints.

Or just wait till one of those fuel cells causes a fire. Insta-ban. But in this case, the merit is due.


RE: Can you take it on a plane
By phobos512 on 9/12/2008 6:17:21 PM , Rating: 5
I asked them the same question and YES you can take them on a plane.

quote:
Hello Matt,

Thank you for your email. Yes, the product can be taken on an airplane. Medis received a special permit from the DOT so each passenger can take up to 3 on an airplane. Each package and even the fuel cell itself is marked with the permit number DOT SP-14504 APPROVED FOR CARRIAGE IN AIRCRAFT

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Best,

Michelle Rxxx
VP Marketing
Medis Technologies
925.XXX.XXXX


By AmishElvis on 9/12/2008 1:58:47 PM , Rating: 1
Fuel cells in general are inelegant compared to rechargeable batteries. I hope refillable fuel cells are never used as the built in power storage device for our electronic devices.

Picture this- It's Sunday night. You're about to go to bed when you notice that your cell phone is on empty. But wait, you're out of sodium borohydride! Now you have to drive to the 24 hour Walmart (or wherever) and pick up a new box. After you get back, you carefully unscrew your phone's tiny gas cap, and try not to spill any of the white powder as you awkwardly funnel it into your phone.

This does not sound like progress to me.




By masher2 (blog) on 9/12/2008 2:43:12 PM , Rating: 3
Picture this-- It's Monday morning, and your phone and laptop are dead. You have to leave for work in five minutes.

Now you can either open up your fuel cell, pour in some more juice, and be ready to go....or wait three hours for your batteries to recharge.

There's a market for *both* rechargeable batteries and fuel cells. Neither is right for all situations.


By AmishElvis on 9/12/2008 3:24:32 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Neither is right for all situations.
That's an interesting idea. How about a cell phone designed to use rechargeable batteries or fuel cells interchangeably? The batteries and fuel cells could have the same form factor and power output connectors. The consumer could choose which one to use or have one of each for different situations.


By NEOCortex on 9/12/2008 4:53:13 PM , Rating: 2
Unfortunately most fuel cells need auxillary electronics and pumps to control the whole system. When combined with the fuel source and actual fuel cell, its very difficult to get that all in a AAA or even AA battery.

Eventually fuel cells may be miniaturized down to these sizes though.

Another note on this fuel cell device. Its fuel happens to be a solid, which releases hydrogen when reacted with water. This wouldn't be something you would refill like you refill your car, instead it would be more like putting in a new pre-fill cartridge. Most likely why they haven't done that yet is that this fuel is quite dangerous, possibly more than methanol.


By Formori on 9/15/2008 11:12:10 AM , Rating: 2
That's what I was thinking as I read the article. Putting the 3 month supply of juice from the pack into rechargable batteries for various devices would be amazing for digital devices.

Imagine your phone battery is almost dead and your running out the door. No time to plug anything in, so you plug your phone into the fuel cell and as your going to work, it's charging the battery for you all day while you work away. Also would be really good for new devices that almost never see home. A portable laptop changing dock that could stay in your car while your on the road for months at a time. No outlets on the side of the road you know!


Slightly confusing
By Doormat on 9/12/08, Rating: 0
RE: Slightly confusing
By mjcutri on 9/12/2008 12:21:59 PM , Rating: 2
"Once activated, the fuel cell begins producing electricity immediately and will last about three months. The fuel cell is good for about 18 months before it is activated ."

It means that it has a shelf-life of 18 months and will work for up to 3 months after it is first used.

Reading comprehension on this site it terrible...although sometimes it is due to the poor writing that sometimes occurs on this site as well, but not in this case.


RE: Slightly confusing
By FranksAndBeans on 9/12/2008 3:35:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The power output is reported to be enough to recharge many mobile devices several times before the fuel cell runs out of fuel.


I dunno about you guys, but they're going to have to do a whole hell of a lot better than that to convince me to buy one of these things. I think their R&D and marketing guys need to realize I can already buy little recharging packs that are powered by standard AA cells or built-in packs. I have a hard time seeing the point if it is only able to provide similar or less amp-hour output than a charger pack & isn't refillable.

That's asking an awfully lot of early adopters. They're going to have to market it with an fruit logo on it to get that to fly.


RE: Slightly confusing
By Gzus666 on 9/12/2008 3:58:13 PM , Rating: 4
Sell it as an ipod/iphone accessory, BAM, early adopters as far as the eye can see. They will buy anything, and pay anything, clearly. I knew they were useful for something...


Medis 'Fuel Cell'
By Jim Horwitz on 9/12/2008 5:40:00 PM , Rating: 2
Since by definition a fuel cell creates power continuously when supplied with fuel from an outside source, the Medis is not now and has never been a fuel cell (it may be in the future...). Virtually all portable electronics and small battery manufacturers have been working on fuel cell power supplies for years. From Samsung and Toshiba to Nokia, NEC, BIC and Gillette. DMFC Corp. in Pasadena is anticipating selling millions of methanol cartridges. They have already been made legal to carry on international and now US domestic flights - similar to vodka, just methanol versus ethanol. Instant refill, instant power if they can get the engineering, size, etc. perfect. Lots more power then any near-future batteries. Watch this year's CES show in Vegas (although I've watched the last three...). Fuel cells soon? Check out the Honda Clarity if you have a chance.




RE: Medis 'Fuel Cell'
By Solandri on 9/12/2008 5:49:17 PM , Rating: 3
They should design a version which will run on ethanol. "Yeah boss, those beers are a legitimate business expense. I needed to power my laptop during my flight."


RE: Medis 'Fuel Cell'
By highlandsun on 9/12/2008 9:09:32 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah why not... Ethanol has higher energy density than methanol anyway. Then you only need to carry one bottle for multiple purposes! (I can see it now - "dang, I wish I hadn't partied so hard last night, now I'm hung over *and* I can't finish my project before the deadline...")


Another solution
By Devo2007 on 9/14/2008 6:25:00 AM , Rating: 2
Hmm, I think I found something better, but feel free to comment otherwise.

I just picked up a PowerMonkey mobile charger today (www.powermonkey.co.uk) and it pretty much does the same thing (except that it's a portable 2200mAH rechargeable battery).

Once I charge the pocket-sized battery pack (either from a power outlet or via a USB port on my computer), I can use it to provide emergency power for my phone, MP3 player, and PSP (a charging tip for the DS is available separately). I should add that it does come pre-charged at 60% or so, so if you just bought this, it could still be used in a pinch before charging it.

I paid $60 for this, and it just seems a much better value than this fuel cell. Of course, if you really want to go green, you can spend $120 or so for the solar charger. They are even coming out with a bigger battery later this month that will charge laptops.




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