The New Silver Zinc Battery
Has there been another new breakthrough in battery technology in time for 2009? ZPower is claiming so. While the laptop battery coming out in 2009 from Boston Power is intended to be an improvement on widely available lithium ion batteries, the ZPower product is a new type altogether: silver zinc.
Longer Run Time
The new battery promises 40% more power than a similar lithium ion model. Its energy density is higher than that of lithium ion batteries, and it claims to add another two hours to the runtime your laptop has when it’s running on lithium ion. Most of the new batteries will last through about eighteen months of use.
Safety
The silver zinc battery is water-based, which is less chemically volatile than its lithium ion competitors. ZPower says that its new batteries have passed tests of heat, penetration, impact, and crushing with flying colors. If fewer space-consuming safeguards are required inside the batteries to keep the new technology safe, it could also be possible to make batteries smaller than ever before using the silver zinc technology.
Environmental Impact
The materials used in the new batteries are more recyclable than lithium ion materials. ZPower claims that over 95% of the silver and zinc needed to manufacture the batteries can be reused in new batteries, reducing the amount of new material that must be mined. Even so, these batteries can cause significant environmental damage if not disposed of properly, so recycling them is imperative.
Price?
Silver zinc batteries (also known as silver oxide batteries) are not entirely new. In fact, they’ve helped out with the U.S. space program. However, in the past they haven’t generally been rechargeable and certainly have not been widely available because of the expense of silver. ZPower intends to offset the high price of materials by strongly promoting returning spent batteries to them for recycling. Still, it seems likely that the new battery will come at a premium.
When Can I Get One?
ZPower promises to launch the new silver zinc battery in a “major notebook computer” in the middle of 2009. Well, hm, rather mysterious so far. If all goes well with this very limited launch, though, perhaps the new technology will show up in your cell phone next.
