Following the Sony laptop battery fiasco
of 2006, intense interest has been paid to the safety of the portable energy
source. The IEEE is in the process of updating its standards
for laptop batteries, and some companies are developing their own improved
cells. One such company is Matsushita, best known for its Panasonic brand in
North America, who makes lithium-ion batteries for notebooks.
DailyTech spoke
with Michael Buckner, Senior Manager for Panasonic's Energy Solutions Lab,
about the electronic company’s role and future in batteries. While Sony was the
goat in last year’s laptop battery, Matsushita had a very small Japan-only
recall of its own. Despite the fact that Sony was the one stumbling in its
lithium ion products, the entire consumer public began to worry about the
safety of all laptop batteries.
“When any supplier has a problem, it creates concern for the
technology itself. The challenge that we must meet is to reassure the public
that Lithium-ion batteries are safe,” said Buckner. “Safety has always been the
number one priority at Panasonic. The incidents last year just reconfirmed that
we need to maintain safety first in our designs.”
Last November, the IEEE announced that it would revise its
laptop battery standard to improve safety guidelines. The IEEE has named
Panasonic as one of the interested participants in the formation of a new
standard, but Panasonic did not comment on its specific involvement with the
IEEE. Buckner did have this to say about the upcoming standard: “While nothing
has been approved yet, we feel it best that any proposals set safety levels but
not mandate the methods for manufacturing the cells, which could increase the
costs significantly.”
Panasonic has already made developments in improving laptop
battery safety, independent of the IEEE. Parent company Matsushita announced in
December that it has established a mass-production system for a 2.9 Ah
lithium-ion battery that incorporates heat
resistance layer technologies to ensure safety. We asked Buckner if these
new batteries were now available to North American consumers. “Yes, the 2.9Ah
lithium-ion batteries are our second generation batteries and are shipping in
the latest generation of Panasonic Toughbooks,” he replied. “Several other
manufacturers are also designing notebooks for these cells and you should see
these coming to the market this year.”
In addition to improving safety, Matsushita has also
developed lithium ion batteries that boast 20 to 40 percent
greater capacity while retaining the heat resistance safety layer. The
prototype battery uses metal alloys for its negative diode instead of the graphite carbon
that is typically used. Thanks to the alloy material, the maximum capacity for
a standard 18650 size battery increases from 2.9 Ah to 3.6 Ah. Energy
density/volume is also increased by 40 percent over Panasonic's current
batteries, to 740 Wh/L.
“This is our third generation battery with a capacity of
3.6Ah,” said Buckner, who continued to explain what this means to consumers. “It would allow for a 10 hour battery pack
that is the same size as a first generation 6 hour battery pack. By optimizing
the composition and developing new process methods, Panasonic has overcome the
technical difficulties in using an alloy for an electrode.”
These high-tech batteries aren’t on the market yet, but we
were told that the third generation technology would be commercialized in the
“near future.”
Looking forward, electronics companies are exploring
different options on where next to take mobile power. Sony Electronics
President Stan Glasgow has gone on record to
predict that notebook makers will likely soon incorporate lithium polymer
battery technology instead of the currently used lithium ion.
Panasonic, however, feels that there is still much life left
in lithium ion technology. “Li-ion cells have the highest capacity of any
present battery technology,” said Buckner, adding that Panasonic is focused on
improving lithium ion batteries to meet the demand for longer running portable
devices while adapting new safety technologies in the interest of consumer
safety.