Zbattery Blog

Unless you have the more common or popular devices, getting a lithium battery for things like a cell phone or a laptop computer is getting harder. These days every device has a battery designed especially for it. So there are literally 1000's of battery designs out there that are incompatible with each other. And as more devices and their unique batteries are made, the problem increases.

Add to this the ever increasing problem of shipping lithium batteries and the situation gets even worse. Since shipping lithium has become such a hassle, consolidating shipping of lithium products has become more prevalent to alleviate the time and cost.

What this means is that your local battery store is carrying fewer battery models and lower stock levels of the models that are kept in stock. This is because the fewer times a lithium battery gets shipped the better. So there are a few warehouses around the country that carry even the obscure models. And those warehouses supply the many retailers that blanket the country. But the retailers will only get the models they are sure they are going to sell. The rest stay at the warehouse to be delivered directly to the customer or have a special-order-only status with the retailer.

So let's say you have a Dell laptop computer. Unless it is one of the popular models, the chances of getting it today are pretty slim. In fact, the chances of getting it tomorrow are pretty slim, too. But I hear you saying "I have Amazon Prime and I can get anything shipped next day for free"... sorry, but nope. No matter how much you pay Amazon, you can't change the law that says that lithium cannot deliver via overnight air services.

The way to mitigate the problem is to have an accurate cross-reference and bullet-proof compatable electronics in replacement batteries. This way the battery will work the first time every time - or mostly every time - avoiding return shipping, and allowing as many replacement battery makers into the market as possible.

In the longer run, we need batteries that don't burn. It would also help to have some standardization but I doubt that will happen. And obviously, if batteries became so robust that they outlast the device then that would mitigate the problem, too.

Is there anything a user can do to help themselves? Yes. A battery usually doesn't die all at once. It get's worse and worse capacity until it just isn't useful anymore. So take note when the battery starts dying and look into a new one before you need it. Find out if it just happens to be popular enough for your local battery store to stock. Chances are they won't if your phone isn't on the best sellers list. So expect the battery will have to be ordered and that it will take a week to get.

Or, find out from your local battery store if they can special order it and send it straight to your door. If they can then you could pay shipping costs and probably get it faster because they won't have to ship it with a number of consolidated orders collected over a few days. And if there is a problem, you can deal with the local store instead of a remote seller.