| ▲ | ryao 6 days ago | |
> Interesting, but they are not manufactured more, but way less, as you can see. So, quality doesn't drive the market. Monies do. They were always really expensive, heavy and had low energy density (both by weight and by volume). Power density was lower than lead acid batteries. Furthermore, they would cause a hydrolysis reaction in their electrolyte, consuming water and producing a mix of oxygen and hydrogen gas, which could cause explosions if not properly vented. This required periodic addition of water to the electrolyte. They also had issues operating at lower temperatures. They were only higher quality if you looked at longevity and nothing else. I had long thought about getting them for home energy storage, but I decided against them in favor of waiting for LiFePo4 based solutions to mature. By the way, I did a bit more digging. It turns out that US production of NiFe batteries ended before 2023, as the company that was supposed to make them had outsourced production to China: | ||
| ▲ | bayindirh 6 days ago | parent [-] | |
> They were always really expensive, heavy and had low energy density (both by weight and by volume). Sorry, I misread your comment. I thought you were talking about LiFePo4 production ending in 2023, not NiFe. I know that NiFe batteries are not suitable (or possible to be precise) to be miniaturized. :) I still wish market does research on longevity as much as charge speed and capacity, but it seems companies are happy to have batteries with shorter and shorter life spans to keep up with their version of the razor and blades model. Also, this is why regulation is necessary in some areas. | ||