Batteries

[wibblywobbly]

I was having a chat with a knowledgeable friend today about batteries, seeing as HL now ship tanks with Lithium Ion ones. He seemed to think that there was no problem with using those batteries on any tank board as long as the low voltage detection cuts the power at 6v. They are very similar to Lithium Polymer batteries with one difference.

A Li-ion battery is good for long term low power use, so is good for a tank. Mine lasts almost an hour of tank running on an RX18.
A Li-po battery is good for high demand, like the jets that he flies, as it will cope with the spikes in demand better. You can of course use a Lipo battery in a tank and it will work perfectly.

The reason I asked him was because the HL batteries are tiny and very light, they are therefore much easier to install in a tank where space can be a bit tight.

He also told me that Graphene batteries are now being developed. These will take 30 seconds to recharge, and last for ages, apparently they are a product of F1 research?

[silversurfer1947]

I guess that's what they use in the KERS as it stores a huge amount of power and recharges exceedingly quickly.

[jtracks]

Does that mean we will all need new battery chargers in the near future? I have one now that does NIMH, NICAD, and Lipo but no provision for Lithium Ion.