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Comment by 1970-01-01 | Hacker News Reader

1970-01-01·

Here's the thing about engineering. It does not need to be perfect. Good enough is good enough until something better arrives. Li-ion is good enough until solid state and other battery chemistry is ready for prime time. That time is very soon, but still a few years away. Li-ion is good enough until then.

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Can’t let this comment go without pointing out that Li-ion was invented by a Mr. John B. Goodenough: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Goodenough

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym

I have heard the term “nominative determinism” for that phenomenon. New Scientist magazine used to frequently publish examples found by them or submitted by readers.

Li Fe Po4 seems to be more the work horse for the masses.

it's LiFePO4 (aka LFP, Lithium Iron Phosphate), unless there's a new Polonium version I haven't heard of

When most people refer to lithium-ion batteries, they're often thinking of chemistries other than LiFePO4, like NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) or NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminum), which have higher energy density.

He was talking about Po vs PO.

Graphene Aluminum Ion is probably going to be the long term here.

There might be other interests, political ideals, economic principles, availability of/access to ressources that might tilt the actual decision making beyond "getting the thing done". Even at additional costs, long before its prime time, channeling research and development budgets in certain directions.

After all the latter part is an important motivation for publishing broader articles and certain studies early.

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