back to article Brit hydro fuel cell maker: our tech charges iPhone 6 for a week

Brit-based hydrogen fuel cell maker Intelligent Energy (IE) reckons it has developed an iPhone that can run for a week after one charge of the battery - which might just help massage the loss-making firm’s bottom line. The Loughborough-based business has produced a working prototype of Apple’s sixth generation smartmobe …

  1. Leeroy

    Buyout

    Looks awesome but it must be tiny to fit in to a modern smart phone while keeping the existing battery, they must have taken something out to make space ?

    I just hope they don't get bought out by Apple preventing the tech from going mainstream in all portable devices.

    1. phil dude
      Thumb Up

      Re: Buyout

      @Leeroy: mod-up, my thought *exactly*.

      "Fingers his Apple Magic Touchpad (from Fingerworks) and dreams of a MagSafe on every laptop...

      P.

    2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Buyout

      Not the original battery. It contains A battery because the fuel cell can't provide the peak power needed. So the battery gives you umph (technical term) when you make a call or the CPU spins up and is then slowly recharged by the fuel cell.

  2. Katie Saucey
    Meh

    though full scale production and commercial release remain some years off

    Humm...just some years off (I bet a company rep says 5, it's always 5)..where have I heard that before? Right, I'll have my fusion reactor by then. Pics or it didn't happen etc. etc..

    1. Adam 1

      But this is different. It is battery tech from a (relatively # unknown company. They always pan out!

  3. Dieter Haussmann

    £2.99 for a week's charge? No thanks.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Only £270 per kWh, if my maths is about right. That even makes Hinkley Point C look cheap.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No one needs this

    If you want a week long battery life from your phone, you can buy one of those bulky 12000 mah battery cases, or one of those little external batteries that they can be plugged into. No one wants to be messing around with adding a bit of liquid to their phone, rather than simply plugging it in. I suppose if the fuel was in a little cartridge that installed like a SIM or SD card it would be less objectionable, but that's something you need to carry with you or purchase at undoubtedly massively marked up prices at the coffee shop.

    Anyway, if Apple had this they'd probably make the phone thinner and still go for a one day battery life. Because, as I said, no one needs a week long battery life as standard in a phone and those who do already have the ability to get it.

    1. David 164

      Re: No one needs this

      Now be honest with us, did you read the article ?

  5. Bernard

    Explosions?

    I assume they've planned for this, but I still wouldn't want to be on a flight with one.

    1. Katie Saucey
      Mushroom

      Re: Explosions?

      I assume they've planned for this

      SkyNet did, just chuck'em out the window!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdRbnjSAddE

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And what happens to the vapours?

    Sorry to be practical, but it appears it'll need to vent the water it's made - where is that going to go?

    I cannot see this being popular with people who prefer to wear their phone in their trousers, unless they wear dark colours :)

    Personally, I'm reasonable OK with the amount of juice in a mobile, especially if we could convince designers to stop this idiotic race to thinner devices - 2mm more would add all the extra battery I need.

    1. Charles Manning

      Re: And what happens to the vapours?

      Don't worry, Apple will parent a way to make the vapours condense into a cute holographic-looking rainbow.

    2. Adam 1

      Re: And what happens to the vapours?

      You're, er, holding it in wrong?

    3. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: And what happens to the vapours?

      it appears it'll need to vent the water it's made - where is that going to go?

      The article says it vents the water vapor out the back. Condensation on the pants shouldn't be a problem if it's hot enough. Scalding shouldn't be a problem if it's not too hot. Er...

      OK, look. Just wear adult nappies and stick your phone in them. Do we have to solve everything?

      (JFTR: No, I'm not rushing out to get a fuel cell for my phone, either.)

  7. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    RTFA

    As the article mentions the fuel cell case is vented and the process will be slow enough that it will be vapor, not droplets.

    As for the price per KwH note a)Cartridge fails it's replaceable. b)Since when did Jesus phone users care about money? Most of them are on contract that will (relatively ) painlessly extract the cash from their accounts monthly and the rest are self employed meja types who'll put it on their expenses.

    As a business plan this is a pretty smart move. Regular readers know what I think about Apple and fuel cells already.

    BTW if cash is about 2x losses and they are making sales that suggests they've got at least 2 years to put this together before they run out of money.

    I'm hoping they don't run out of nerve and unload the business to the first customer (IE Apple) that offers them a bit more than was invested.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: RTFA

      >> and the rest are self employed meja types who'll put it on their expenses.

      I have little to say about batteries or fuel cells. I also don't know what a "meja type" is. (And neither does Google.) But this comment annoyed me.

      If you're self-employed and you expense something (assuming you mean write it off on your taxes), YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. Not paying taxes on that thing means it costs relatively somewhat less than other purchases but that doesn't make it free.

      I'm self employed and it infuriates me when people tell me to buy stupid overpriced things because, hey, "you can write it off!" As if that somehow makes it okay that I'm still paying sticker price for a stupid overpriced thing.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: RTFA

        so the vapour will simply make you appear to have wet your trousers over a longer period of time? say an 8 hour working day?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: RTFA

          "so the vapour will simply make you appear to have wet your trousers over a longer period of time? "

          So pretty much every day would be like New iPhone Launch Day...

  8. Me19713

    Can't wait for the first youtube video of some wanker's back pocket going into Hindenburg mode.

  9. James O'Shea

    Bah, humbug

    What on _Earth_ are people doing with their devices to run the batteries down so fast that this looks like a good idea? I just plug mine in when I get home; in a short time they're at full charge again, and I unplug 'em. If, for some reason, I need to charge one during the day, there's the car charger or I can plug it into a laptop or desktop for a short time. Not usually needed unless I forgot to charge the thing last night. In most cases I can get by for two days without charging, but that's pushing it. If I'm on the road a lot, then Waze tends to eat battery, but that's why I have the car charger.

    Feh.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Bah, humbug

      You are not the target market. The target market is city hipsters who can't run a car because they have no where to park, would have to drive at a snails place to and from work every day and pay extortionate parking fees and/or congestion charges.. They have rationalised this problem away by saying they are proud not to have a car or even ever having learned to drive and so can't charge their phones on the go because buses/trains/underground don't have charging points. They are still waiting for every coffee shop to install inductive charging loops on every table.

      A while back we got an email about company phones and data usage. "social media" was highlighted as being data hungry. I read it and was thinking WTF? Why are people using social media on company phones? Just ban that crap and watch the data usage drop! (and battery life go up)

    2. ilmari

      Re: Bah, humbug

      Streaming spotify will empty most phones in under 8 hours.

      1. h4rm0ny

        Re: Bah, humbug

        >>"Streaming spotify will empty most phones in under 8 hours"

        Yeah, of their personal data you mean.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "a week of average use"

    And there's where it all goes wrong: the early adopter types will be so busy skiting about it that they burn through the lot in less than a day

  11. Adam 1

    So where does one get the H2 to squeeze down the headphone nossle thing? Do we all get to install an electrolysis kit on or kitchen bench? Or if it is coffee shop/service station distribution model planned, this would have to compete with a more simplistic swap and go style battery power pack.

    1. ilmari

      The article mentioned hydrogen producing powder, cartridges, and modified headphone sockets.

      I wonder if they've just replace headphone socket with orifice for inserting the cartridge. Presumably the cartridge stays inside until its hydrogen generating powder is spent.

      I also wonder if the rate of hydrogen generation is fixed or variable, and whether generated hydrogen is storable or not.

      If the answers are no, then it means the fuel cell will run empty after a week regardless of power consumption, and that very heavy users will drain the intermediate buffer battery even if fuel cell still has stored energy.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It doesn't work on this scale....

    Having worked in the industry, I can say with absolute confidence that for something on this scale the size, weight and cost of just the hydrogen fuel source (the cartridge) just doesn't compare to rechargeable lithium or even disposable alkaline batteries. Yes, it works, but it's unusable in reality and the laws of physics aren't going to change anytime soon. Scale it up, maybe a 2kW generator, a car power plant or larger, and it's a really promising technology (if you have a local, cheap source of hydrogen) but for this application it's a media headline-grabber only.

  13. Andy The Hat Silver badge

    Great!

    ... for Apple.

    Just imagine "Look no need for a charger! Get your iH2Phone here!"

    Then you tie the idiot punter into a life's worth of iH2 cartridges from t'Apple Store ...

    Sounds good business sense to me ...

  14. 100113.1537

    Powder as H source?

    Anyone know what the technology is for the H-producing powder?

    A few years ago Sony were touting a methanol-refuelled fuel cell notebook battery with a cigarette-lighter sized refill. Liquid fuels are so much easier to handle, but a powder cartridge would work - although probably more expensive. Not sure if iPhone is a good target for this technology as nothing Apple ever lets you open it to replace a cartridge so it has to be a refuelling-via-port option.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    H2 isn't the only fuel for fuel cells

    Why can't I have one that I can top up from a (widely available, reasonably priced) cigarette lighter refill?

    What have I missed (other than the Gillette-style opportunity of getting the punter hooked on the product and then an ongoing semi-permanent string of refill sales)?

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