MnGCA

[Marsha and Silent Bob]

NEC Develops Fastest Rechargeable Battery

April 2, 2004 (TOKYO) -- NEC Corp has developed a battery that can be recharged only in 30 seconds, company sources said. Called an organic radical battery, it can be recharged to the same level of power as that stored in nickel-hydrogen cells, which are widely used in digital cameras, portable MD players and other electronic devices.

It takes only about 30 seconds to recharge the battery enough to allow 80 hours of continuous operation of an MD player, compared with around an hour needed by conventional rechargeables, the company claims.

Because of its ability to recharge faster, the new battery, which stores power in a special resin, is expected to make radio-controlled toy cars, shavers and other products much more convenient to use.

The battery can also discharge power in a short time, making it useful in applications requiring a large amount of power.

NEC believes the battery can be used as an emergency power source for computers in case of blackouts as well as in hybrid cars driven by a gasoline engine and electric motor.

The company plans to convert existing production facilities into ones able to manufacture the new product. The company expects the price of the new battery to be about the same as nickel-hydrogen cells when mass production starts, since it does not contain any expensive materials.

NEC is also developing a recharger for the battery that can be used at home as well as working on a way to prevent excessive discharge of power from the cell.

The company will initially try to commercialize the technology for using the battery as an emergency power source for computers, according to sources at NEC.

(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun)
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Sad state of affairs.

[KC0GRN]

Sounds almost too good to be true... where's the catch? or should I say, flaw?

I'd like it if it actually works out, but I'd have a few questions before I started using them, like a. does the battery have a memory, like regular nickel style rechargeables and b. does the performance dwindle out on them like some rechargeables that lose power at a constant rate during use.

Although I don't want to sound like a pessimist either, I'd love to see a new rechargeable battery technology that works great.