Li-ion batteries: news, progress, history and background

Tokyo -- Tales of burning notebook PCs that hit the news last summer raised serious concerns among consumers about the safety of lithium-ion batteries. Responding to those fears, Japan's battery and PC industries have jointly hammered out guidelines for the safe use of Li-ion batteries. The industries' task force has also presented its proposal to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). "We have worked hard since last October for lithium-ion battery safety. The resulting guidelines are designed to eliminate serious problems, such as catching fire," said Masami Yamamoto, corporate vice president of Fujitsu Ltd., who chaired the safety committee formed last fall by the Japan Electronics & Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) and the Battery Association of Japan. As the next step, the team intends to expand the guidelines beyond notebooks to other applications, such as cell phones. The guidelines are not intended to clarify the cause of

Lightning Lithium Superbike: No Emissions (TreeHugger) : "Lightning Lithium Superbike: No Emissions" However the Lightning Lithium is, after all, just a prototype — an idealistic vision of what could be. Using a track-beaten 1999 Yamaha R1, the conversion cost about $15,000 total. It was the brainchild of Richard Hatfield, a motorcycle enthusiast and solar panel importer based in Burlingame, and Todd Kollin, who's been making electric bikes out of past-their-prime gas-powered ones for the last six years at his Oakland shop, Electric Motorsport. Right now, the shop does custom conversions of aging internal-combustion bikes, with a turnaround time of about 30 days.