The Evolution of Batteries

Ideally, totally forgotten about, like in say Star Trek where they carry gadgets around and barely any “Flat” or “recharge” type discussions. I never see a cable.

Ideally therefore you’re carrying a device and it simply never needs recharging, the internal battery needs and its recharging is a non-issue, forgotten about, like Oxygen is taken for granted in every place which isn’t sealed from the outside.

To do this truly seamlessly would involve wireless transfer to be pervasive but under current physics that’s a challenge as electromagnetic power drops to the square of distance. So you’re talking an awful lot of different technologies converging, like robotic controlled lasers who track you and point energy at you as you move (without blinding you or you noticing).

We need more wireless charging phones built-in, but that never really happened and metal cases in new phones are defeating the idea. I not bought a wireless charging device since about 2014.

Another is wireless mats built into many more places like office desks, bedside cabinets, kitchen surfaces, etc.

To survive the time between these yet-to-be-invented pervasive wireless recharging, we’d need phone batteries to last days, ideally weeks, which would require a substantial internal gadget battery density to go up at least one order of magnitude.

However, back to the right now, I never get a flat phone or tablet and stuck waiting, because I always carry something to get me out of the problem, if I’m moving for more than a day I’m usually with some kind of Anker Powercore. So really, all that this new wondrous technology will likely solve for me is remembering to pack a few items which are charged, which isn’t that much of a burden as I must also pack food+water+clothing and unless Anker is planning on making us immortal also then energy for our gadgets is a subset of energy for our bodies.

I mean, a Powercore 10000 + cable is about the size of a palm of my hand and gets me to 2 days of phone life, it’s hardly that bad now is it?

Good article. I would like to see more solar charging options in the future. Let’s face it, there are some out there but they can be hit and miss. What a time to be alive!

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I noticed no mention of LiPo which inspired me to research on my own. (I learned something today from that and this article so thanks :slight_smile: )

My first experience with LiPo’s was an exploding rc helicopter that caught my living room coffee table on fire and ever since I only charge R/C LiPo’s outside in a cinder block. That was 9-10 years ago and I received a visit from a real live CPSC investigator who took my story, took pictures and paid me so they could take my helo and charger.

My 2nd experience with LiPo’s is a very swollen and failed battery in a Smart Doorbell which I can’t name due to an NDA. I believe this one was close to exploding as well which is odd to me because they usually require some sort of impact or bad charging practice to swell. I guess luckily it had enough expansion space inside doorbell where it didn’t get pierced or build up too much pressure and rupture. That one actually scared me more than the helicopter because it could have failed at anytime and could have burned my house down.
I know technology has greatly improved on them but am wondering if Anker is looking at using LiPo’s for anything?

Solar is an entirely different topic, it isn’t battery, its, errr, solar.

Solar’s problems are improving slowly too. I recommend this video and going back through their explanations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQPxFoZ4cIk

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A fantastic read!

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Very nice little read.

As for what I would like batteries to become? In the book News from Gardenia, all the portable tech is powered wirelessly. No need to plug anything in. Sounds like bliss!

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Nice history lesson. Thanks!

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I as well had a LiPo go up in flames but they make my RC so fast that I can’t stop using them. I was fortunate to be using a safe bag while charging and that’s when it happened. I store my LiPo’s in an ammo box!

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Excellent article and info…thanks Anker!

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Awesome article learned a lot! Looking forward to the future

Just recently purchased a PowerCore 13000 to recharge handheld devices. What type of cells are in the 13000? I read that the TSA doesn’t allow lithium-ion batteries on board aircraft. I couldn’t tell if that is in checked baggage, carry-on or both. Is PowerCore a TSA approved device?

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Can’t wait for the future!

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I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it:

Battery bonanza: From frogs’ legs to mobiles and electric cars - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39420729

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Wow great info and breakdown. All of these different tech sounds very interesting. I am an eco person (would love to own an electric car one day…or hybrid at the least) and the alternate energy methods sound really interesting. Nano batteries and nano yolk batteries show incredible potential as well.

Looks like lithium-ion is allowed on board.

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There is a common maximum of 100Wh which at typical voltage is 26800mAh. You need to carry on not check so if they catch fire the crew can extinguish.

100Wh is always allowed in ‘user quantities’, so 2 fat powerbanks in no issue.
Bigger is also allowed but (officially) you have to ask the carrier for permission. That’s before you check-in your luggage.

Carry on is preferred but before I knew that I put about 5 18560 cell in my check-in without an issue.
About 2 months ago when they wanted to ban all laptops from carry-on the idea was that you checked them in.
With that they broke their own advise/rule. So my guess is that they don’t really care much about the size.

I’ve seen 30,000 mAh powerbanks but they are quite rare. 26,800 is just a little below the 100wH limit.
If you need even more power you could take two. A little more expensive but also more flexible because you don’t always need a big beast bank.

I usually fly with Delta, always the same route. They have USB power on every seat in a number of planes. I have no idea if it’s possible to predict which flights.

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Exciting stuff thanks for sharing this info.

nice read i hope more solar charging options will be out soon, Ive had some that take ages to charge and will be getting better as we go

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