By Vince Biancomano

Much like the silver-zinc advantage that's claimed over lithium-ion, users can expect a 30 percent advantage right out of the box from NiZn over NiCd and NiMH in energy- and power-density, according to PowerGenix, the San Diego based company behind the effort. And the number of charge cycles, a problematic factor in adapting the battery's use to modern applications (primary NiZn batteries go back decades in military applications) is now several hundred.

The cost per watt-hour for the nickel-zinc might well be lower than NiMH, could compete favorably with NiCd and would be almost half the cost of lithium-ion, if you had to make that distinction. The new battery is designed to away with many of the safety and toxicity issues plaguing a battery having organic electrolytes. And they say NiZn has better low-temperature performance than NiMH.

What's more, the new batteries reportedly can be manufactured using existing NiCd and NiMH production lines and are now in high volume production. In fact, they're due to appear as a sub-C cell for a power tool next month, a D-cell at the end of the year, and before too long, a rechargeable AA battery that has 100 percent compatibility with throwaway AA batteries. So the overall value proposition (performance vs. cost. vs. toxicity) looks good.

By Vince Biancomano

ZPower says it has taken a half-century old battery chemistry that's been around for military applications (such as the Apollo project), made it rechargeable, and made it much better for use in next generation portables than lithium-ion is now. By how much? Forty percent improvement in watt-hours per liter, and ten percent better in watt-hours per kilogram, according to Ross Dueber, president and CEO. Overall, about a threefold improvement in what lithium-ion can do. The first product, in a 10-by-35-by-50 mm case, will be rated at 5.8 A-h. "It's a paradigm shift," says Dueber.

Is it? The claims continue: lighter, smaller, safer, several hundred cycling times, and longer running. One thing ZPower doesn't do is tout this new 1.5-volt technology as a direct replacement for existing portables running on 3.6-volt sources. On the other hand, the battery, which reportedly has a "water-based" alkaline electrolyte similar to what's in NiCd and NiMH types, will have every opportunity to double and otherwise multiply its capabilities in the same time frame as did lithium-ion when it came on the scene in the early 1990s, says Dueber. That would be quite a trick, considering that this first-generation product for portables starts out with such an apparent edge to begin with.

By Vince Biancomano

Their worry might have something to do with the differing philosophies of the world's countries when it comes to recognizing who owns what. I think they'd say it would be OK if everyone could get on the same page. "Forever" is a long time, but there's more than a grain of doubt when people wonder if there's ever going to be a universal approach to the mess we've got. And I sense we've had calamity for a much longer time than I've been alive.

So I certainly can't argue with their concerns. I know enough to say, though, that patent law in the U.S. is, let's just call it, peculiar. And I'm sure most everyone has that one case that sticks in their craw, something a legal defense team would generally call "allegorical." But take this allegorical case: You bring an infringement suit against a company in 10 states and win. But you get too confident, and file the suit in an 11th state, where the jury votes against you. As a result, everything that's gone before is for nothing. That's because you thus lose in all states.

I don't believe they've gotten around to fixing that one yet, or have any intention of doing so. And it's not the only case that might give you the rights to intellectual property today, and take them away tomorrow. Welcome to the world of patent law.

Most level headed people in the world want a sense of order, of even-handedness, in their everyday dealings. And it's true, I've found the Europeans to be a rather gentle, quiet lot. But that, in my view, might put them behind the eight ball when they deal with a highly charged, highly competitive industrial country like ours. On the other hand, Japan is highly competitive, too, and while it's hard to generalize on the thoughts of an entire continent I get the feeling the Europeans seem to think that Japan's system of patent law at least makes for a more workable system. Now some might say that all of Europe isn't so competitive, and needs to pound away at any angle for any advantage they can get. True as that might be, I'd counter that argument by saying that I, right here in New Jersey, never had much faith in U.S. patent law.

I'm not sure how much input the Europeans have provided, or have been asked to provide, to the world community on this issue. But whomever has what to say about their level of participation, I get the feeling it hasn't been much, and that they are watching more than bulling their way into the conversation. I do know, without doubt, they can show us a thing or two. And that our engineering community generally isn't aware but can learn from what they have to say.