Heat-proof batteries hit mass production

A YEAR marked by exploding lap-top batteries has ended with the mass production of a heatproof battery for laptops.

According to the Beeb, the Japanese firm Matsushita developed a lithium ion battery which has an added a heat resistant layer of insulating metal oxide on the surface of the electrodes and started releasing it in small quantities in April.

Now as a result of the Sony debacle, Matsushita, which is behind the Panasonic brand, plans to produce five million units per month and estimates that by 2009 half of all lithium-ion batteries it makes in 2009 will be the heat resistant model.

More here. µ