LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

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retiredVTT
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LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:43 pm

I've started this thread because over the next few years we will likely see major strides forward in Lithium Battery Technology as the car industry ramps up the introduction of electric vehicles; and as that industry progresses, the RC electric hobby will likely see better packs coming out as well.

Case in point was the developement by A123 Racing along with MIT a couple years back of "Nano-Phosphate" Lithium cells for power tools and the signing of a contract with DeWalt to power their construction tools with a 36 volt pack. Soon after RC'ers were buying up these 10 cell packs on ebay and breaking them down to 4S, 6S, etc, packs for our own use. They charge fast and can be abused more than regular Lipos.

Now I see a contract has been signed this week between Chrysler and A123 to provide the battery packs for five vehicles Chrysler plans to bring out in 2010. Details here...

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-a123 ... act-2009-4

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:00 pm

So why is production of Batterys for Electric vehicles ramping up...?

Check out this projection..

"In October JP Morgan predicted that global annual sales of hybrid cars will grow exponentially from 500,000 to 9.6 million by 2018. The vehicles are expected to go a long ways towards helping both the US and Japan wean themselves from unreliable foreign oil imports. www.madhedgefundtrader.com.


Wow..!

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Terry K
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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by Terry K » Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:51 am

Hey Bill if the CAW does'nt get its head out of it's backside Chrysler won't be around long enough to change the battery technology that existed last week. Terry K

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:43 am

You have a point Terry, although me being raised a Union man, I can't side completely with the company..!

The CAW is willing to move down $8.00 on their package....I find it hard to believe they're being asked to move down $17.00 an hour on the package to get them in line with the Asian manufacturers. They don't seem to publish the Asian pkg costs.

Guess it's definitely coming down to crunch time though.

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:21 pm

Check out this site for a 80C burst Lipo that's rated at 400 AMPS in burst mode ....!!!!!!!!!!

Don't let that sucker arc in front of you...you'll be blinded for days...!

https://fusion-pack.com/productdetail.a ... 20&cat=132

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:01 pm

Lithium Battery Shipping Restrictions

As of October 1, 2009 some new restrictions have come into effect regarding the shipment of Lithium Cells.

A quick google check tells me that in '07 and '08 there have been some shipping restrictions placed on various lithium cells, so apparently these '09 restrictions are additions. In particular large quanity shipments are targeted, but now they are getting into the "quanity of lithium per cell".

This Hobby Lobby link is the first clue to changes that might effect modelers..

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/lipo-restrictions.htm

Here is a link that has current info (if you can decipher it) as it mentions the Oct 1/09 date for these new rules.
(..these new regs apply to the shipment by AIR..and not by rail or truck, not sure about ship..!)

http://www.ultralifebatteries.com/docum ... ations.pdf


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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by saboo » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:41 pm

WOW.

I have read the whole document from UltraLife. In theory, it would be very difficult to get any more batteries from HobbyCity (aka United Hobbies, Hobby King ) airmailed to Canada, if they are complying with the regulations!

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by retiredVTT » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:45 pm

Yeah, time to place a test order I guess..!

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by karlpenney » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:14 am

I ordered some from HC last Friday. But, they're not showing as shipped yet. Let's see if they show up.

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Re: LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Unread post by lawndart » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:55 pm

I read the Ultralife info too. As I read it the no-airmail shipping restriction is based on the lithium content of each lipo cell and each battery (I take "battery" to be more than one cell wired together, what I'd call a "pack");

Lithium content is derived from the following formula: 0.3 X rated amp-hours per cell X number of cells in battery. A 3S 1500mah pack therefore would be deemed to contain 1.35 grams of lithium (0.3 X 1.5 X 3 = 1.35).

As I interpret the chart on the first page of the document, a shipping package containing no more than the greater of 24 cells or 12 packs (3 packs by USPS), with each pack containing no more than 8.0g of lithium, and with no more than 1.5g lithium per cell, is exempt from restrictions on transport by air. The packaging must, however, bear a specified label and the cells themselves have to have met a bunch of UN testing protocols. We'll leave that to HobbyCity.

By my math this means an air-mailable flight pack can't exceed 5000mah (0.3 X 5.0Ah = 1.5g per cell). With this restriction as a baseline no pack under 5 cells will exceed the 8g overall limit.

So unless I'm misinterpreting something, as long as HC complies with the labeling and testing regime (?) it should still be able to ship most packs out as usual. Big orders (eg. more than 12 2S, 8 3S, 6 4S packs) may need to be split into multiple shipments, and packs over 5000mah are gone, but otherwise we might be OK.

How'm I doing so far?

Dave
------d-a-v-e---------------- >}-

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