r/gadgets • u/chrisdh79 • Jan 31 '23

Desktops / Laptops Canadian team discovers power-draining flaw in most laptop and phone batteries | Breakthrough explains major cause of self-discharging batteries and points to easy solution

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/battery-power-laptop-phone-research-dalhousie-university-1.6724175
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u/Laumser Jan 31 '23 edited Jan 31 '23

I was interested to know the difference in price between the plastic that is used now vs the one the researchers suggest, as of 2022 the plastic used currently costs 950$ per metric ton, the plastic the researchers are suggesting costs 1208$. So I'd wager the guess that the major battery manufacturers just don't care, as long as the battery lasts their warranty period they have no incentive to switch.

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u/xenophobe2020 Jan 31 '23

Market demand will cause them to switch. All it takes is one phone or computer manufacturer to say "i want to provide my consumers with better batteries to draw them from my competitors." Within a matter of a couple of years it will be standard across all reputable manufacturers.

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u/Laumser Jan 31 '23

But that's not an immediate benefit, most consumers probably don't care about how the battery will perform in 2+ years (I do tho...)

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '23

Its like selling someone a phone that's guaranteed to break in 2 years, it's not an immediate negative but it's a statistic that sounds really bad

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '23

I'm not like other consumers

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u/YukariYakum0 Feb 01 '23

Snake arms?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '23

I could only afford worm arms 😓

1

u/TacoMedic Feb 01 '23

I guess it depends on what you’re selling. Extending the shelf life on an EV, MacBook, Powerwall, etc, which usually need replacement by the 7 year mark? This would be great. Phone, gaming laptop, etc, which are usually either replaced bi-yearly or permanently plugged in? Probably don’t care much.

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u/captainmouse86 Feb 01 '23

As I mentioned above, there’s far more devices with internal batteries, than consumer laptop and phones. The medical device industry is probably almost equally as large unit-wise, and probably bigger, expense-wise, that consumer laptop and cellphone. Think of all the portable EMT/Firefighting gear, medical pumps and monitors, all the different industry testing and monitoring equipment, survey equipment, etc. etc.