Lithium Battery Kills Model in South London

Dear Reader,

It’s almost as if the entire lithium-ion world is catching fire — literally. 

With every passing week, reports of fires from around the globe seem to be coming in with ever-increasing momentum. 

Google "battery fires' today and you’ll get a list of results that make the lithium-ion battery look like the stuff of a Hollywood horror story. 

Destroyed buildings, burning ships, even a dead model…

Now, to claim that the epidemic has just started is a bit shortsighted.

The epidemic is only now getting noticed because the media outlets realized that any story about a lithium-sparked fire is excellent clickbait, and with that, the incidence rate of reporting has jumped.

It's Not Always the World Falling Apart… Sometimes It's Just the Reporting

Would we otherwise know about some random condo fires in NYC or a ferry that caught fire when its massive lithium battery array failed in transit?

Probably not. Fires happen. We’ve been conditioned to accept those things as normal events in our modern world and try not to think about it too much.

Still, stories about lithium-ion batteries always resonate. Why? Because each of us carries a potential incendiary device in our pockets on a daily basis.

We keep many, perhaps dozens of them, operating at all times in our homes.

An ever-increasing proportion of us own cars that are powered by them.

They’re everywhere, which makes nearly everything and everyone a potential fire hazard.

But the fact is this has been going on for decades now.

Ever since Sony released the first commercially available lithium-ion battery back in 1991, the lithium genie has been out of the lamp, setting fires to backpacks, pants, cars, and dwellings at a gradually increasing tempo.

Lithium-Ion Batteries: Designed to Burn

But why does this happen?

Well, to understand that, one needs to understand the list of volatile substances that go into a lithium-ion battery.

There are flammable organic solvents suspended in a liquid, as well as high concentrations of oxygen, which starts seeping out of the battery when temperatures rise.

And temperatures often do rise.

The older a lithium battery is, the less efficiently its cells function, which means more energy is lost to heat, resulting in diminished performance — particularly in the charge capacity department.

When enough heat is introduced, a phenomenon called "thermal runaway" will occur — basically a self-heating state where the battery can produce enough heat to flash over into fire.

Most lithium-batteries are only built to endure several hundred charge/discharge cycles before more and more energy starts getting lost to heat. 

Don't Delude Yourself… Your Phone Is a Time Bomb

That’s why if you own an older smartphone, you may notice it getting hotter every time you charge it.

That’s a sign that it's approaching the end of its life span.

It happens to every phone we own, every several years. Billions planet-wide.

And now that there are more lithium-ion batteries out there than ever before, there are also more recycled and refurbished batteries than ever, especially in the emerging markets where regulations and standards of quality are nonexistent.

With 3x growth in demand expected by the end of the decade, you can see how this story can't stay on the back pages forever.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the mainstream media pimp and push news unapologetically and are probably the single most culturally destabilizing force at work in the modern world, but when it comes to lithium, the panic could be appropriate.

Lithium, after three decades of powering our portable gadgets, needs to be replaced.

Society is beyond ready for a new battery with higher energy density, a longer charge/discharge life span, a more stable architecture, and, most importantly, quicker charging.

Perhaps just as importantly, the Western world is ready for a battery whose raw materials won’t have to come from China — which now supplies the bulk of the world's lithium-ion cathode raw materials.

And that alternative may already be here.

The Answer Is Simple, Is Cheap, and Could Change the World

Right now a new battery is being developed in Australia that breaks all of lithium's old rules.

It holds up to twice the charge. It lasts for three–five times the number of charges. It charges 70 times as fast.

This new battery contains no lithium and no other elements with potentially troublesome supply chain issues.

At the moment, early production-run units of this new battery are being manufactured by a company operating out of Brisbane, Australia.

Hardly anyone knows its name or what it does because since it was founded in 2015, this company has been flying under the radar.

Nevertheless, its stock quietly trades on two North American exchanges. 

These batteries — the culmination of years of dedicated research and development — will change all of that in short order.

Once they hit full commercialization mode, perhaps later this year (client companies are already testing and evaluating these batteries for potential licensing deals), this could be one of the most famous battery companies in the world. 

You'll Be Hearing From This Company Soon — Count on It

I’ve been following this story for a while now, and I’ve got to say, this is the one company that I expect I’ll be talking about decades from now. 

Its technology, and particularly its patented production methodology, could disrupt a $200 billion/year industry. 

And yet at today’s share price, this company trades for just over USD$100 million.

That could be the most glaring pricing inefficiency I’ve ever seen. 

Want more information?

Take a quick look at this informational video our media team put together. 

It sums up all the facts and figures on the market, the tech, and the stock. 

Then you can make your own decision.