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By now, most of us have seen videos of the power bank fires on commercial airliners. If you haven't, well, here you go:
I'm flying again in a few days. As I'll be taking a power bank with me, I'm keen not to be in the news -- or in a national air accident investigation body's report -- as the owner of a power bank that went rogue on a plane. And to be honest, it's not just power banks on aircraft that bother me. I don't want that issue happening in the car, in my backpack, or next to my bed when I'm dreaming of the next bit of kit I'll be reviewing.
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The problem is that lithium-ion batteries are flammable. But what if there was a safer alternative? There is, in the form of semi-solid-state batteries. And one company that's pushing these devices as a safer alternative is ReelCharge.
The dangers of lithium-ion
We think that modern lithium-ion batteries hold a lot of charge, but they don't. The explanation is that modern electronics are very efficient. A modern iPhone has a battery that's about the same capacity as a 5,000mAh power bank. That might be enough power to get you through a day of scrolling on your phone, but in food terms, it's about 16 calories, and a medium banana has more than six times the calories (around 100 calories).
However, the risk is about the speed at which that power can transform into fire. A chunk of banana in the overhead locker isn't going to burst into flames, but 5,000mAh is also equivalent to about half a teaspoon of gasoline. As someone who messed around with gasoline a lot as a kid, I'm well aware of how surprisingly dramatic the results of even a tiny amount can be. In an overhead locker, surrounded by all sorts of flammable materials, that power is enough to cause significant problems.
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Even more worryingly, 5,000mAh is small for power banks. You can take a 27,000mAh power bank on board with no problems (and up to 100,000mAh with approval on some airlines), which has a power capacity equivalent to a couple of teaspoons of gasoline.
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