You might recall Pretec from their past flash drive creations, this year at Computex they were showing off car batteries too. SemiAccurate will say that they had the best lithium iron phosphate + supercap battery at Computex, but seeing as it was the only…
Getting back to our serious side, Pretec has a long track record of thinking outside the box. They are a small flash maker so they have to compete on innovation and design, and they do both well as this battery shows off. That would be the innovation part, not the design, that part is closer to the end of the article. Normally it is hard to get excited about a car battery but Pretec did two things we hadn’t seen before, chemistry and an added supercap.
Pretec car batteries look like, well, car batteries
The first big change is the chemistry, instead of the traditional lead/acid mix they went for a lithium iron phosphate battery. This has some very serious advantages over lead/acid, a claimed 1/3 the weight, 5x the lifespan, wide operating temperatures, lower self-discharge, and low toxicity materials. None of the Pretec claims are out of line with what the basic chemistry change can provide so we take them at face value.
Stepping way outside the box is the supercap addition, they added one that is large enough to start the car from. The idea is that since supercaps charge and discharge far faster than a battery, you can put enough energy into the battery to start it in seconds. Instead of hooking up the charger and waiting, you hook it up, wait a few seconds, and theoretically you have enough juice to start the engine. From there the battery will slow charge as you drive.
Why doesn’t everyone use a lithium iron phosphate battery in their car if it is better in every way? Cost most likely and Pretec didn’t have an MSRP for this unit yet so we can’t say for sure what that cost will be. It won’t be cheap but it will be better in every way. If the supercap addition does what it should, it could be a killer app for car batteries. That I wasn’t expecting to say about a Computex product but that is why trade shows are interesting.
I am a cow, moo
Diablo jokes aside the mainstay of Pretec’s business is still flash and interesting designs for flash drives at that. This year there weren’t any new ideas on the tech side but there were a whole lot of new designs like the above cow suit USB drive. It won’t change the world but kids and Asian schoolgirls seem to love this kind of thing so they probably sell well. Even if you don’t they were nicely done and solidly constructed.S|A
Have you signed up for our newsletter yet?
Did you know that you can access all our past subscription-only articles with a simple Student Membership for 100 USD per year? If you want in-depth analysis and exclusive exclusives, we don’t make the news, we just report it so there is no guarantee when exclusives are added to the Professional level but that’s where you’ll find the deep dive analysis.
Charlie Demerjian
Latest posts by Charlie Demerjian (see all)
- What Is Qualcomm’s Next SoC Code Named? - Dec 6, 2024
- What is the next Intel small core CPU called? - Dec 6, 2024
- Why Did Intel Fire CEO Pat Gelsinger? - Dec 3, 2024
- Intel Removes Pat Gelsinger - Dec 2, 2024
- What silicon is in the new Sony Handheld? - Nov 26, 2024