One thing to note about the modern 'betavoltaic' batteries is that they don't actually have more energy density than a standard 18650 lithium ion battery, but instead give off a much smaller amount of power for a decade or two, while an 18650 would probably have lost all it's chemical abilities.

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antonkochubey 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I know this is an anecdote, but I have quite a few 18650's from early 2010's still in service, of course with significant increase to internal resistance and drop to capacity, but fully functional otherwise.

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datadrivenangel 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I also have many functional 18650s of that age. lithium ion cells often self discharge at a few % per month, so after a few years of no power use a cell is likely to be dead without recharging anyways. The betavoltaics will still have usable power output. The real question is what the cost/performance comparison looks like between a betavoltaic system and a 18650 + tiny solar panel system that can on average recharge the battery on an annual basis.

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buckle8017 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

He's talking decades without recharging.

	▲	jolmg 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		I think he's replying to the bit: > an 18650 would probably have lost all it's chemical abilities.

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m463 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Wonder how early EVs with 18650s like the tesla roadster (2008) or model s (2013) are faring?

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deepnotderp 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

They do have higher energy density, it’s just a low power density