Why so many laptop batteries?

Ever thought about the hundreds of different batteries that laptop computer manufacturers use? Have you ever stood back and wondered if there wasn't a better way?

I realize most people don't think about a new battery until the old one starts to deliver a little too little. But when that time comes, we begin to lament the fact that our laptop computer battery has to be very specific, and depending on the popularity of a particular laptop/battery combination, all too frequently the battery is scarce/expensive.

At one time Duracell tried to design a group of batteries that could  be standardized. This made sense because almost all laptop batteries then and now are made from the same 18650 cell. And the number of cells is almost always 6, 8, 9, or 12. They are just arranged differently... so there really aren't as many ways to make a laptop battery as there are out there.

So what went wrong? I'm not sure. Perhaps when the battery dies there are so many people that go and buy a new laptop that the manufacturers just can't ignore that kind of repeat business? Perhaps Duracell was charging too much for the privilege of using a standard cell? Perhaps there were features that laptop engineers wanted that a standard cell couldn't provide due to bloat or "jack of all trades means master of none." Maybe the tiny extra size requirement to use a standard battery was too much of a sacrifice compared to molding a new battery into the laptop design?

Let us know your ideas in the comments!

MIT weighs in on Better Batteries. I weigh in on better articles.

There are a number of reasons mentioned in this article on why we don't have better batteries already despite a slew of promising chemistries and constructions coming out of the lab. Richard Martin of MIT gives 'lack of money' as the primary reason. He provides a secondary less defined reason: 'it's hard'

And so it is hard and takes a lot of money to create better batteries. There we can agree. However, I think the real reason a fundamental change has not taken place in energy storage has less to do with money and more to do with turning theory into practice. Ramping up construction of a promising cell that has both good capacity and low material cost is an engineering problem. But we simply haven't found the right chemistry and construction to apply our brilliant engineering minds to.

Another article that deserves mention is this one that says Nikola Motors has removed the battery in their prototype semi-truck. It says so in the title. It repeats that claim in the first and second paragraphs. The article then goes on to state the battery will remain the same. 

Confusing, no?

I don't bring this up to laugh at the editor. I bring it up because we should be as accurate as possible, and since I can't change their article, I'll set the record straight here.

Nikola motors designed a semi-truck as a hybrid vehicle. Or, more accurately, a range extended battery powered semi-truck. The battery would be used first and then, originally, a turbine engine would kick in to charge the battery while driving. The only change that the article should have mentioned was that the turbine engine was being replaced by a hydrogen fuel cell. The battery was not 'ditched'.

The company also claims to have plans on adding solar farms to create the hydrogen. One would think the start-up cost would make this impossible. However, Nikola says they can rely on subsidies  -

"There is currently a per gallon federal credit to the station owner (Nikola™), so Nikola™ is able to build that into the price of the truck when purchased and can then realize those savings and give customers the pre-purchased fuel for the first 1,000,000 miles."

Now, this might be attractive to a businessman, but it spells out death to a company for an economist because subsidies are fickle things and always result in malinvestment. Still, one hopes this idea can produce some good result in the end despite the problems of subsidies and malinvested markets.

VIEWS on BATTERY NEWS: Edible battery creates medical options. Double capacity cells get tested. New lithium construction.

 Edible batteries are important because devices that go inside the body, like certain medical devices, would work much better if we didn't have to construct a barrier to keep the battery from injuring the patient. There are some materials that can be safely absorbed by the body that have a voltage potential. And with some things, like cameras, sensors, or time release devices, it doesn't take a lot of power or need to be powered for a long time so a small, even low capacity, battery will do. And safely ingesting a battery is a big deal, because if the barrier is breached with current chemistries, it may just do more harm than the problem the device was working against to cure.

This came out a couple days ago. And I imagine as important as this news is that everyone would already know. But I haven't found further comment on it. A battery with a claimed 2x increase</a> in capacity is being tested. It's a lithium chemistry and can be produced on standard battery-making machines. It must be costly, which is the reason I'm guessing it hasn't gotten as much buzz as I would have expected.

A new material, or perhaps this would be considered a new construction, is being tested using silicon instead of carbon. That's good news because that would mean the possible capacity will be greater and costs will possibly be lower. This one isn't being tested like the one immediately above, but it's another great hope for liberating mankind with better portable power.

IN THE NEWS: Tesla sells $29000 battery for no profit, but is expected to raise Panasonic profits by 100%. Worlds largest grid battery

Tesla is readying the 3rd upgrade on the Roadster battery, also known as upgrade 3.0 or R80 upgrade. This is a hand-built replacement with the latest technology which Tesla says will cost Roadster upgraders $29000, which Tesla says is 'cost'. There aren't many Roadsters out there, only about 2500 of them, and not everyone wants an upgrade. But with a current build time of 3-5 packs per week, it's going to take a long time before a lot of owners get theirs. Still, at a 'drive nicely' pace you will get well over 300 miles per charge, it takes away a lot of stress, and the battery will last for another 10 years. This means if you bought a 2008 model, your upgrade battery will come at a good time.

Panasonic is the main provider of Tesla batteries, and Tesla is coming out with a more mass-market model. If they hit production expectations, we know how much battery that will take, and if Panasonic provides all that capacity, they are expecting to double sales numbers. That's a lot of Li-Ion.

Grid batteries made by utilities have been gaining in number over the last few years, with a great deal of innovation and chemistries tried. And now the biggest grid battery ever is scheduled to go online in about 5 years, all of it Li-Ion. About 18000 packs the general size of a Nissan Leaf pack are being put together to gather solar, wind, and off-peak energy and replace an NG peaker plant that is currently serving Los Angelos. Again, this is still a new idea and one of the most important things is to keep an eye on these installations in order to get good cost and production numbers.