Batteries

Tesla's Gigafactory 1 is too much of a risk for further investment, Panasonic has reportedly concluded, with the EV company's battery partner freezing its plans to expand the facility while Tesla looks to squeeze more out of existing capacity. The hiccup in the relationship comes on the heels of Elon Musk suggesting Tesla would look to multiple battery suppliers for its Shanghai factory, along with the automaker missing its Q1 2019 production goals.

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It seems that Apple continues to have battery headaches but this time it isn't about iPhones. You'd think that considering their size, Apple Watch batteries would have very little problems other than having to be recharged every day. It turns out, however, that some have experienced potential safety hazards due to swollen Apple Watch batteries and they are now taking Apple to court for allegedly knowing about the problem and still pushing through with sales of the wearable device.

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The European Space Agency has conducted a series of tests that involve blowing up batteries as part of research into preventing space debris. The work took place in bunkers and involved engineers using a variety of methods to destroy lithium-ion space batteries, including short-circuiting them, shooting them, and causing them to overcharge and overheat.

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Back in January 2018, HP recalled thousands of laptop batteries due to the risk of potentially overheating. The recall was expanded a year later with HP voluntarily recalling a number of additional batteries back in January 2019. The news was slow to reach the public, however, due to the government shutdown, which delayed the Consumer Product Safety Commission's announcement until March.

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Lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous and, unfortunately, quite volatile when they overheat. The explosive nature of these batteries has previously raised safety concerns among US transportation officials who worry an explosion in an airplane's cargo hold could have catastrophic consequences. Following a past study highlighting the potential danger of lithium-ion batteries in aircraft cargo holds, the FAA and DOT have announced a major new rule impacting checked baggage.

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Energizer is a battery-centric company, so it only made sense to go all-out for a smartphone with enough power capacity to choke a mule. This Energizer Power Max P18K Pop isn't the sort of phone that everyone is going to want. It's also not the sort of phone that most people are going to want. In fact I'm not entirely sure there are enough people that want this phone that Energizer should really go ahead with a full production run, to be entirely honest - but we shall see!

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Nissan and OPUS Campers have taken the wraps off a new camper concept that taps used electric vehicle batteries to offer power while on the go. Called the Nissan x OPUS concept, this camper features ROAM, a portable and weather-resistant power pack from Nissan Energy. Unlike the gas generators used by some campers, ROAM is silent and free of emissions.

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If there's one feature that already seems to be defining the next Android release, it might be built-in Dark Mode. Users, developers, and Google itself have all flirted with dark themes at one point or another but Android Q might be the first to bring a polished and system-wide dark mode for the entire platform. But while it does seem it bring some battery-saving benefits to the table, it might actually be for naught in the long run.

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By now, most iPhone users (and those who follow the tech industry in general) are probably very familiar with Apple's battery woes last year. After it became clear that Apple was intentionally slowing iPhones with older batteries, the company was at the center of a lot of controversy. So much controversy, in fact, that Apple decided to offer cheaper battery replacements for pretty much anyone with an out-of-warranty iPhone.

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Contradictions in leaks for the Samsung Galaxy S10, S10E, and S10 Plus were revealed this morning. We've been seeing the same set of battery sizes leaked from various sources for the Galaxy S10 family for the past several months, but today's leak suggests that the batteries have a slightly different set of capacities than previously suggested. Now, with each successively larger size, we see between 300mAh and 700mAh additional capacity, according to the cost of each phone.

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Apple's Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max may offer a boost in power for heavy users, but there's a compromise in there too. The new battery-toting cases are Apple's official solution to those wanting both extra protection and extra runtime with their flagship iPhones, but they also presented a new challenge.

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Apple has launched new Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, offering both protection from bumps and additional battery life in one. Like the original Smart Battery Case, the most controversial aspect of these new models for 2019 is likely to be the hump-back design.

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