[Paddlewise] Lithium Ion Batteries

>>Toshiba announced earlier this year that it will start shipping
>>methanol fuel cells by the end of 2005.  This I heard on Discovery

Toshiba also recently (within the last few weeks) demonstrated a lithium 
ion battery that can recharge 80 per cent of its power in just 1 minute, 
and can recharge fully in 3 minutes. It keeps more than 99 per cent of 
its original capacity even after 1000 test cycles of discharging and 
recharging. This comes on the heels of another lithium-ion (Li-ion) 
battery from Altair Technologies of Reno, Nevada, that recharges in 6 
minutes (New Scientist, 5 March, p 27).

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624946.400

(You may need to be a subscriber to read the full story)

Toshiba says it will commercialize a larger form of the battery next 
year, for industrial and automotive applications, including hybrid cars 
and batteries for emergency power supplies in plants and hospitals.

Which begs the question: How long before we see a vhf battery that can 
be recharged by turning a crank for 3 minutes? ;)

Woody
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************