NEC Says Develops Fuel-Cell Battery for Laptops
Date: 01-Jul-03
Country: JAPAN
The fuel cell would enable notebooks to operate for 40 consecutive hours, or around 10 times the life of regular lithium-ion batteries, a company spokesman said.
NEC is locked in fierce competition with domestic rivals such as Toshiba Corp, as well as U.S. and South Korean rivals that are rushing to bring fuel cell technology for notebooks to the mass market.
NEC aims to test the market in 2004 with a notebook computer having a built-in fuel-cell battery with a life of five hours, the spokesman said.
Toshiba said in March it aimed to release a methanol-powered fuel-cell laptop in 2004 that will provide five hours of battery life.
Fuel cells, which take in hydrogen and oxygen and turn them into electricity, do not need recharging like regular batteries. They require a refill of fuel such as hydrogen gas or liquid methanol in order to keep operating.
NEC shares got a boost from the announcement, closing up 7.53 percent at 600 yen and outperforming a 0.92 percent rise in the electrical machinery subindex.