There are only a few battery cell manufactuers in the world. All the various electronics companies buy from them and build them into their specific battery packs. The battery pack includes the cells and critical charging circuitry to protect the cells. Some also have thermal fuses that disable the battery pack if it was exposed to too much heat.

I worked closely with key battery cell manufacturers years ago, when lithium ion chemistry for consumer products was just being introduced. Lithium ion was supposed to be a safe alternative to using pure lithium (which was only used in military applications and briefly in consumer products). The inherent danger of a highly flammible metal like lithium reacting with moisture became quickly apparent.

The problem is that lithium ion batteries cells can precipitate pure lithium crystals if exposed to too much heat. Those crystals, with their huge surface area, can react catastrophically. It is the nature of the chemistry. OEMs sometimes try to cut costs and skimp on the protective circuitry. It always amazed me that airlines allowed ANY lithium ion batteries on airplanes. The precipitation of pure lithium metal inside this type of cell has been understood for a long time.

by ehsteinert (See profile) - October 2, 2006 9:38 AM PDT

The problem with most of this is that people continue to leave their batteries in when connected to the mains. Once the battery has charged, remove it and continue on mains power. This prevents the battery from getting excessively hot over long periods and tends to increase battery life as the battery isn't being cooked or left with phantom charge due to contimual charging when there is charge left.

A little more personal responsibility would reduce the problems.

That said, this whole thing is sending shockwaves around the battery industry. The problem is clearly one of QA but how to test what the cause is without using laptops to cook batteries first? The impact is likely to hold up some new battery technologies while manufacturers look for some form of test matrix that can detect these problems.

by Ian Murphy (See profile) - October 2, 2006 9:19 AM PDT

Glad to see the government is starting to treat Japanese companies like they have the American auto companies,Keep up the good work!Look into Toyota sludge engines and phony mpg figures. next.

by koslof (See profile) - October 2, 2006 6:44 AM PDT

And if they use Halon to supress a fire or suspected fire, and you have your pet in the cargo compartment where the Halon is dispersed, say good by to your pet. Halon will displace the oxygen and suffocate the animal. Think twice before putting your pet in the cargo hold.

by mslammers (See profile) - October 2, 2006 6:36 AM PDT

If the battery problem is really as bad as the hype, then why haven't the Airlines banned laptops? I shudder to think what would happen to if one of these smoking batteries is discovered on an airplane -- worse if one started to burn inside someone's checked baggage.

by mail1 (See profile) - October 2, 2006 4:25 AM PDT

This is surely serious stuff... it didn't need a US Govt agency to throw its weight behind this issue to high-light it, but now that its here, I really wonder WHAT went wrong... just WHICH OEM/ODM of these Li-Ion battery packs for laptops screwed up....?!?!

Also, I wonder if this same issue is just lurking beneath the surface in any other products using Li-Ion batteries, such as mobile phones, PDA's, or worse yet, Medical Devices...!! What would it take for this one to blow (sic) out of proportion - a couple of exploded Medical Devices, or someone's ear getting blasted off by an errant device??

by akhilneo (See profile) - October 2, 2006 2:41 AM PDT