Here's the relevant website on IndieGogo:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jaw-batteries-world-s-first-emergency-batteries#/On the face of it, seems pretty neat... They show capacity and discharge curves equal to or above that of Alkaline. So they claim! If we are to believe this is all true, they have working product and they are ready to sell, why put it on IndieGogo? They want exactly $28,746 to fund the campaign but it has a flexible goal which means they will get the money even if it never reaches that.
That is too little to really do much. They can't build a factory with that money. What are they trying to fund exactly?
A starter pack is $10 (4 AA's). For $19 you get 8 AA's.
Now you can purchase 4 AA Lithiums (which have a shelf life of 15 years) for about $5 now:
https://www.amazon.ca/Energizer-Ultimate-Lithium-Batteries-Each/dp/B00003IEMEThe cost for these JAW batteries I'm sure will drop, and the idea is cool but something rubs me the wrong way about this campaign and I'm not sure why.
I'm looking at that capacity bar graph and at 100 mA current draw it has 800 mAh capacity, and at 300 mA current draw it has 600 mAh capacity. How does this compare to a typical Lithium or Alkaline AA? I know we are not comparing apples to apples here... and the main benefit of these batteries is the long shelf life. But if we are to consider even "reasonable" disasters... they are on the order of months, I think stocking up regularly every 3-5 years and buying a fresh pack of batteries (and using old stock first for non-emergency use) periodically would cover you in case of emergency.
I'm looking at test curves done here:
https://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htmThey are showing a Duracell/Radioshack topping out at around 2 Ah. Compared with the JAW battery at 800 mAh. Am I miscalculating or missing out on something here?
Also notice the Lithium batteries (E2) in their first test discharging at a whopping 2 A rate, they are lasting 2.8 Ah! The alkalines are in the 0.5-0.7 Ah range., with Energizer Titanium beating the pack at 1.18 Ah. Our JAW battery at 300 mA discharge is about 0.6 Ah according to their bar chart. Again, how poor is this JAW battery compared to other technologies out there, and do you really need 25+ years shelf life (with a huge cut in capacity and greater costs) over an existing much greater energy-holding battery with 15 years shelf life? What Armageddon scenario is this extra time benefiting?
Here is the datasheet on Lithium from Energizer:
http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/l91.pdfLooking at the curves in the above PDF file, the Energizer Lithium AA seems to be around 3500 mAh abroad a large range of power current draw, as tested from 1mA through to 1000mA constant current down to 0.8V. And there is a steep drop-off... it stays above 1.2V most of the way to the 3500 mAh capacity and then falls off a cliff at the very end.
So we have a HUGE performance difference between JAW and Lithium batteries, and their main selling point is shelf-life for emergencies. Maybe environmental impact? But if you recycle that can be mitigated as well. Why would anyone want to buy a JAW battery then, that offers a quarter of the capacity (at best) at double the cost? And involves fidgeting with adding water and waiting and drying the thing?