A123 ipo
 

Wow! +50% in 4 hours. I wish I could have bought some at the IPO initial price, but Etrade would not let me do it...Is it the new Google?

A123 Systems jolts IPO market with 50% jump - MarketWatch

last time i fiddled with rc airplanes (been maybe a year or so) these batts were very promising for power to weight and durability (as opposed to Lipo's which are flat out dangerous).

Lipos have potential danger if you do not use them as intended - they cannot take the abuse that a Nicd can and don't just die like a nimh does. They release hot gas when over charged, over discharged or somehow mishandled (shorted - which would qualify as over discharged).

I've never had one go up on me though I have had them puff up a bit.

Lithiums are getting better and better and lighter and lighter for the power they provide.

A123 cells are great too but don't carry as high a nominal voltage (3.3v vs 3.7v on lithium) and while there isn't a huge difference - every bit counts.

A123 cells are extremely stable and can take much more mishandling than traditional lipos. They are however slightly heavier though still lighter than Nicd and Nimh batteries. They are very popular and gaining on lipos in the RC world.

This is crazy. Just two days ago we contacted them about partnering research to build a LiPo battery/charging system for racing applications.

I saw the marketwatch news on "A123" and though 'huh.. that's the name of that battery company. Probably not the same people.

What do you know.

Eight years ago, I was developing Lipo batteries at Bellcore, and one of my co-workers left for A123, when they were just starting. He is principal scientist there, and must be very rich today!

Lost a bundle on Lithium Tech bunch of years ago.

Just checked, $.07. wow, think I'm up!

Woohoo.

Crashed a lipo powered plane in a dry beanfield last year. I turn in disgust and hear 'its smoking!'.

Had visions of the entire field going up.

I saw a 60 sized Corsair go straight in on our runway - it was lipo powered. The lipo pack was nearly as long as my arm - 6 cells I think something like 5000mah.

Straight in, hard - instant fire.

It.

Was.

Awesome!

A123 is awesome. Their future should be bright.

They have been in Dewalt tools for a while now. I expect they will be the next big thing in vehicles. They pretty much already are.