I figure this is likely good enough to spinoff here.

Quote:
Apparently there has been 'documented 339 cases of lithium and lithium-ion batteries for portable electronics overheating, emitting smoke and fumes or exploding since 2003'. On top of that, the FAA has documented 60 incidents since 1991.


I'm debating if the problem is really increasing faster then the adoption rate of lithium ion, or if this is just due to the increased presence of these devices everywhere. Laptops exploding are in the news quite a bit these days, and my own MacBook Pro just had a battery recall issued. On Twit, Dvorak has theorized the increase in incidents is due to shoddy battery cells being sold in China and integrated into many laptop batteries. Should things like this be a reason for US manufacturers to pull battery production out of China?

Also, for my own curiosity, is there any measurable increase in problems between lithium ion and the older nickel based batteries?