Airbus gives up on lithium
The batteries that have been overheating and have grounded all Boeing 787s have been canned by the European aircraft maker. Airbus was planning to use the lithium-ion batteries on its new wide-body jet, but now it's switching back to nickel-cadmium. Lithium batteries are lighter than nickel ones, and they charge faster, but the technology just doesn't seem to be ready for operations yet, and Boeing is paying for it, big time.
Battery experts say that while lithium-ion batteries weigh 30 percent to 40 percent less than conventional batteries, their contribution to the overall weight of a jetliner is minimal: The empty weight of a Boeing 787, for example, is about 242,000 pounds or 110,000 kilograms; its two lithium-ion batteries weigh 63 pounds each.... He estimated that the added weight of the nickel-cadmium battery was probably equivalent to losing one passenger seat of payload.
If the 787's problems could be remedied by a similar switch, that could well be where the Boeing crisis ends up. Then it's Katy-bar-the-courtroom-door.
| Posted at 4:51 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
Interesting since almost every Lapp/tablet/phone has lithium ion batteries. In addition, a lot of the hybrid cars do too. I guess having that much energy concentrated in one package is too much heat.
Posted by Steve | February 15, 2013 6:27 AM
Hmmm. If the lithium battery at 63 lbs is a 40% weight saving, the NiCad must weigh a little over 100 lbs. 40 x 2 = 80 lb. of weight savings is equivalent to a passenger, luggage and seat? Not for any of the passengers spilling over into my seat. Maybe it's all different if you use kilograms.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2013 6:35 AM
It may be volume as well as weight.
Posted by Jack Bog | February 15, 2013 7:18 AM
A seemingly knowledgeable friend asserts that a kg of hardware will require 80,000 kg of fuel over the useful life of the airplane. That line of thinking surely leads to bad decisions.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2013 7:50 AM