Exploding batteries are Sony’s fault

“We know exactly why there was a problem. Sony had contaminated its cells in the manufacturing process,” Dell told ZDNet UK at the company’s Technology Day event here on Tuesday.
Dell refuted reports by Sony that the way his company integrates the battery(sony vgp-bps8 battery) cells into its PC designs made its machines more susceptible to problems than devices from other computer makers.
“The batteries were contaminated and were no good no matter what you did with them,” Dell said. “We know the batteries, under rare circumstances, catch fire, (which is why we recalled them).”
Dell recalled the batteries last month after several of its laptops overheated and caught fire. Other manufacturers are known to use Sony battery(Sony VGP-BPS2 battery) cells, but only Dell and Apple Computer have been affected by any problems.
Sony has agreed to help financially with the Dell recall and another by Apple resulting from faults with Sony batteries.
However, a Sony representative denied that the blame for Dell’s battery(sony vgp-bps13 battery) cell problems lay completely with the Japanese manufacturer.
“It is the configuration. We use the same batteries  Dell Latitude D620 battery , dell XPS M1530 battery in our Vaios, and have our own safeguards against potential overheating. Other manufacturers which use the same cells haven’t come forward with any issues. On rare occasions, a short circuit can occur, but this is affected by systems configurations found in different laptops,” the representative said.
Extra problems for small manufacturers?
But Dell has maintained that other laptop manufacturers may face the same battery(toshiba pa3465u-1brs battery) problems that forced it to recall 4.1 million cells. The computer giant claimed that it preempted the rest of the market in recalling the batteries.
“We were out in front on this issue, we see this stuff faster. Maybe there are products out on the (reseller) channel that could (have problems). I don’t see anything to preclude that,” Alex Gruzen, general manager of the Dell product group, told ZDNet UK. “Maybe we’re seeing problems ahead of the smaller-volume producers.”
Dell said this may be more difficult to rectify for smaller manufacturers that sell through reseller channels, as those manufacturers, because they had not sold directly to customers, would have to take extra steps to trace and recall faulty batteries.
“We can identify who has the faulty batteries  dell inspiron 6400 battery , dell inspiron e1505 battery , dell xps m1730 battery in a way our competitors cannot, because they sell through the channel,” added Gruzen.
Gruzen added that the recall was progressing well but admitted the company had little control over any damage to its reputation following the battery(toshiba pa3356u-2bas battery) problems.
“It’s really up to you (the consumer), to be honest. Customers will have to decide for themselves. We’re going to worry about what’s under our control. We are executing the recall extraordinarily well,” Gruzen said.
Jeff Kimble, European marketing manager for Dell, said that the faulty batteries were a problem Dell wasn’t proud of, but that it was “proud of its response.”
Sony said the recalls had arisen because of microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery(ibm-thinkpad-t42-battery) cells coming into contact with other parts of the battery(dell xps m1330 battery) cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell.
“The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in different notebook computers,” Sony said.
Sony currently estimates that the overall cost of supporting the recall programs of Apple and Dell will amount to between 20 billion and 30 billion yen ($170 million and $255 million). The estimate is based on the cost of replacement battery(Dell Inspiron E1705 battery) packs and any related costs to be incurred by Sony.

Alternative Energy Technology: Toshiba Develops One Minute Rechargable Lithium-Ion Battery

Thanks to Alternative Energy Blog reader Josh who referred me to this recent press release by Toshiba who have developed a high energy density lithium-Ion battery(toshiba pa3291u-1brs battery) that recharge 80% of its capacity in one minute. This is sixty times faster than typical lithium-ion batteries (which among other applications are commonly used in cellphones). As Josh (who has worked as an engineer at Ballard Fuel Cells) commented:

"Having worked extensively with fuel cells, I think this technology may dominate over everything Ballard has already developed. With high energy density, fast charging cells, there is also a clear path to fully electric vehicles with no need to change current infastructure. Vehicles could also easily be charged from home, at work, or gas stations could adapt by providing high-speed charging facilities."

According to the press release its secret is the use of "nano-particles" to "prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during toshiba pa3331u-1bas battery recharging. The nano-particles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode".

The battery has a long life cycle, losing only 1% of capacity after 1,000 cycles of discharging and recharging, and can operate at very low temperatures.

Toshiba will bring the new rechargeable toshiba pa3107u-1bas battery to commercial products in 2006. Initial applications will be in the automotive and industrial sectors, where the slim, small-sized battery will deliver large amounts of energy while requiring only a minute to recharge.

According to the press release "the battery's advantages in size, weight and safety highly suit it for a role as an alternative power source for hybrid electric vehicles", which is exciting news for plug-in hybrid cars.

Full Toshbia Press Release including comparison charts with other types of battery technology
toshiba pa3465u-1brs battery:
Cell Type:Li-ion
Voltage:10.8V
Capacity:4400mAh
Cells:8 cell
Weight:318
Color:black
Product ID:TS024
Dimensions:206.52 x 45.00 x 21.40 mm
Condition: brand new,replacement,100% OEM compatible