Only have a 30min SI but still need to charge the scooter?

[Tegg]

No prob... Charge the scooter to 80% in 1 minute.

I can't wait until someone makes the first battery for dive use with these babies...

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm

[DeWayne]

Cool deal 8) Did not Guy ? (creator of the monster?) set up his commercial scooter to use Lion batts? Whatever became of that, I have not seen anything on them since talking to him at last year's CDS seminar

[Signal 20]

No prob... Charge the scooter to 80% in 1 minute.

I can't wait until someone makes the first battery for dive use with these babies...

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm

you need a scooter to worry about that in the first place

[curtschu]

I notice alot of the lights using NicMetal Hydrid batteries has anyone tried Lithium Polymer batteries? They are used by the model airplane guys in the park fliers, They charge fast are VERY powerful based on weight.

[Genesis]

Lithium based chemistry batteries have some special problems.

1. If overcharged or shorted they will burst.
2. Lithium + H2O = Hydrogen, Lithium Hydroxide, and Heat - lots of it. In other words (given that there will be an airspace in there originally), BOOM!
3. If overdischarged they are destroyed - thus, they must have a "hard off" circuit in the pack that prevents that from happening.

These characteristics mean that you need circuitry in each pack so that they charge in parallel but discharge in series - this permits the charger to sense each cell separately, which is necessary to prevent the burst + BOOM problem. You also would get little or no warning before you lost your light (or scooter) when the low charge warning went off on you.

Ever notice how the Lithium Polymer batteries used in phones, laptops and cameras aren't bare cells - they're always packs of some kind? That's why - the circuitry necessary to make them (reasonably) safe by charging in parallel while discharging in series, plus overdischarge protection.

I think the "BOOM" risk could be quite severe - a short in a cannister (or scooter) caused by water intrusion could easily lead to a runaway situation with really bad consequences.

[Tegg]

Genesis,

Those are easy enough to fix. Just dont get it wet...

[Genesis]

Not necessarily.

There have been defective packs in laptops that have caught fire without getting wet. Water vapor in the air is enough.....

[Tegg]

Not necessarily.

There have been defective packs in laptops that have caught fire without getting wet. Water vapor in the air is enough.....

Thats not an issue down here...

[curtschu]

We do enough crazy already why not add explosives to the mix

Great info G I know the model guys take special care charging. Mostly putting them in a pyrex measuring cup but these are single cells I think so they just have circuitry in the charger. I did not see the work Polymer in the article that was posted but I suspect that is probably a Li-Po battery.

[normblitch]

No prob... Charge the scooter to 80% in 1 minute.

I can't wait until someone makes the first battery for dive use with these babies...

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm

Tegg,

Genesis has already made sone great technical points; allow my to put it via some bit more basic and practical notes...

Ahr and WattHr IN must ALWAYS exceed those OUT...while I am not familiar withthe current/voltage specs on today's scooters, what I envision is a charger with, lets say, 4 gauge wire to handle the current (Amps) needed to accomplish such a rapid charge..and just WHAT kind of B+ power supply will this require? I see a Generac on a trailer here...<g>

Cost is going to be another annoyance...Ask any greybeard solder-head what they were paying for NiCads (both wet and dry) as early-adopters...until the batteries you cited (BTW, THANKS for the Link! it is a GREAT read...) and mass-market for Autos and the like, the Cost/AHr is going to be DREADFUL, IMHO.

Now what gets MY attention, is the technology where the battery "sandwich" is formable and can actually be used as the exoskeleton of a vehicle...don't remember the name of this technology, but it is being studied...Genesis?

Norm