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

Article on Business Insider : Tesla Stock Is Tanking After A Third Model S In Two Months Catches Fire ( Mamta Badkar Nov. 7, 2013) A Tesla Model S car caught fire on Wednesday in Smyrna, Tennessee, according to Tesla Motors Club blog (via ValueWalk). This is the third Tesla to Model S vehicle to catch fire in the past six weeks, a Tesla spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. The driver of the vehicle was said to have sustained no injuries and a Tesla team is on its way to Tennessee to see what happened. Tesla again pointed out that the fire was the result of an accident and not  "spontaneous." @Nashvillian_ on Twitter posted this image : I-24 #tesla #teslafire pic.twitter.com/ia9tbftn4V — E (@NASHVILLAIN_) November 6, 2013 A Tesla Model S caught fire in Mexico back in October after the car crashed through a concrete wall and into a tree. Before that, another Model S caught fire after colliding with a large me...

Here are some new testings (overcharge) of Li-ion polymer batteries enjoy video taken from http://www.lithumbattery.com/

1. - Just a joke 2. Really bad - laptop battery explosion 3. Home experiment - soft pack Li-ion battery overcharge 4. Old laptop no the heater plate - frying -> explosion (what you expect?)

It was September 20, 1995 when Apple recalled their new PowerBook 5300 for the first time. The PowerBook 5300 was a big product for Apple. The company had entered into a cross-promotional deal with the producers of Mission Impossible wherein the computer appeared (with a command line interface) throughout the blockbuster movie. Apple was also charging a phenomenal price for the machine, a whopping $6,500 for the 5300ce partly because it was Apple’s first PowerPC-based laptop. The good times didn’t last long. Less than a month after it was introduced, the machine was recalled when preproduction units caught on fire. The problem was blamed on batteries manufactured by Sony, but Apple recalled all the computers sold to that point (claiming that was less than 100 units). The 5300 went on to be recalled again for case problems, but the first recall (and the impetus for a lot of jokes) came this week in 1995 less than a month after the PowerBook 5300 had been released. Source

So far, the fields of Li-ion battery application for the last years enlarge and grab increasingly more market from originally discovered - cell phone application to notebooks, digital camera, PDA etc. This is because of their high energy density (smaller size/weight – higher capacity) and the capacity of the Li-ion cells of the same size has increased by > 7% per each year. Now safety is considered one of the most important features of Li-ion cells. Nearly all electricity consumers demand a high voltage, which is realized by connecting cells in series. Since the single cells have different capacities, it is impossible to maintain the optimal charge voltage in the weakest cell at the end of the charge process. Consequently, the cell voltage increases and, besides the main charging reaction, chemical and electrochemical side reactions are possible. To avoid this problem for lithium-ion batteries consisting out of non-over-chargeable cells, computer-controlled charging systems regulat...

With new Li ion polymer battery new MacBook catches fire 3am last night. I woke up to my girlfriend screaming (yelling "Matty!") and the dog barking. She fell asleep on the couch in the back lounge of our house. I jumped out of bed and raced out thinking that maybe somebody had come through the back door or something. As I was running I saw a fire. At first I thought that the lamp had fallen and set fire to the curtain. As I got closer I realised it was my mac book .... burning! I picked it up and blew on it and swung it around to put the flames out. The book shelf it was sitting on was burnt and there were a couple of magazines that were on fire too. I quickly put those out and calmed down. Read full story

Batteries can pose fire risk to planes - USATODAY.com : "Batteries can pose fire risk to planes" By Peter Eisler and Alan Levin, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — A rash of fires on planes has spurred the government to plan new restrictions on how airline passengers may carry lithium batteries used to power laptop computers and cellphones. The Department of Transportation, which already bars bulk shipments of some lithium batteries on passenger planes, expects to propose more restrictions later this year, said Bob Richard of the DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. While the agency has no immediate plans to ban the batteries from carry-on luggage, he said, the risks of batteries in airplane cabins are being studied. Restrictions on carrying the batteries in checked items are possible, Richard said. "We recognize that the American public wants to be able to carry their batteries and electronic equipment aboard aircraft, but we have to weigh the safety is...

An article (http://www.technewsworld.com/story/55187.html) over at TechNewsWorld cites how a Northern California man received second and third degree burns to at least half his body while sleeping when his cell phone spontaneously exploded in his pocket. The phone, located in his front pants pocket, ignited his clothing and led to a larger fire. The cell phone's manufacturer, model number and technical information have yet to be released. Though serious, these accidents are "relatively rare" according to Scott Wolfson, deputy director of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's Office of Public Affairs. "It is important to keep stories like this in perspective. We don't want to scare consumers into thinking this is a frequent occurrence," said Wolfson. Wolfson then mentioned that while these accidents can occur, they're often the result of a malfunctioning battery or consumer misuse such as leaving a cell phone in a heated environment or droppin...