Will We Ever See Fuel Cell Powered Notebooks?

We keep seeing notebook prototypes that utilize fuel cells instead of batteries. Fuel cells could keep notebooks running far longer than Lithium-Ion batteries and have nearly instant refill times. So why havenâ€â„¢t we seen any production models yet?

Matt Kohut, a competitive analyst at Lenovo, says all the technology needed to produce such a notebook is already available, but there are two big reasons why he thinks we wonâ€â„¢t one hit store shelves anytime soon.

The two problems preventing fuel cells from being in widespread use are 1. the distribution problem, and 2. the airline problem.
The distribution problem is that today if we need to recharge our laptop PCs, we can plug into any available electrical outlet and get a âہfreeâ€ÂÃƒâ€šÃ‚ recharge. Even if I am on the other side of the world, my notebook power brick automatically steps the voltage down to the correct level.
Until fuel cell recharges are available as widely as chewing gum at every 7-Eleven, I could very easily be out of power when I need it the most with nowhere to refuel.

Read Mattâ€â„¢s Full post at LenovoBlogs

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