Zink Batteries

[Spaceman Spiff]

For all you techno-nerds out there:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise...ies-can-provide-more-energy-safety-than-liion

Looks like they will be about 3 - 5 years out.  If they solve the major problem I have with LiFePO4 (I need to charge in below freezing temps) and I can nurse my GC2s a few more years . . . 

 -- Spiff

 

[LeeRevell]

Zinc is much more common and poses fewer health hazards compared to lithium. If it works out - win win!

 

[blars]

There are several possible battery types being developed, most (including this one) at least a decade behind LiFePO4 in development. Don't plan on them being as available as LiFePO4 for a decade or more.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

You may be right but I am constantly surprised at how fast new technology gets to the consumer market.  When I started in engineering in the '80s it would take about 5 - 7 years for a technology to get from R&D to product introduction.  When I retired in 2012, it was taking 18 to 24 months.

 -- Spiff

 

[LeeRevell]

A good example is in pricing. A Navy buddy got an 8-bit Atari computer system for $1,500 total. Two years later I bought a better Atari system for $300.
Many years later a vo-tech school friend paid $300 for a personal sized CD player. A year later I bought a similar unit for $30.
As any technology becomes standard, it gets much cheaper.
Batteries see a similar thing happen.
I always wait til the price drops before embracing the next "new thing".

 

[DLTooley]

Supposedly you can put a LiFePo4 in a small cooler and the heat it generates itself will keep it at a good temperature. I plan to do this in a waterproof container with a sealed m4 through connector, but I've not yet pulled the trigger.