What Has Lithium Ion Batteries?

By Jake Morrison, Hardware Writer | Sarah Chen | Mike Patterson
Published: Feb 8, 2025

Pretty much everything rechargeable these days runs on lithium ion batteries. Your phone, obviously. Laptop. Those wireless earbuds you're probably wearing right now. The technology took off in 1991 when Sony commercialized the first lithium ion cells for camcorders, and it's been eating into every product category since.

People ask "what has lithium ion batteries" expecting a simple list, but the real answer is: go look around your house. Count the rechargeable devices. That's your answer.

These batteries store energy by shuttling lithium ions back and forth between two electrodes-anode to cathode when discharging, reverse direction when you plug them in. The chemistry sounds complicated but the practical result is straightforward: more power in less space than older battery types could ever manage.

What Has Lithium Ion Batteries

Three reasons. Energy density beats everything else. A lithium ion cell packs 150-250 watt-hours per kilogram. Compare that to nickel-cadmium at maybe 40-60 Wh/kg. Not even close.

Second, no memory effect. Remember old cordless phones where you had to fully drain the battery or it would "forget" its full capacity? Lithium ion doesn't do that. Charge it whenever. Third, low self-discharge-they hold their charge sitting on a shelf, losing maybe 2-3% per month versus 20% for NiMH batteries.

Cost came down too. Back in the '90s these batteries were expensive enough that only premium electronics used them. Now they're cheap enough for dollar store USB chargers. Well, cheap enough-still more expensive than alkalines, but the rechargeability pays back fast.

Smartphones lead the pack. iPhone 15 Pro has a 3,274 mAh battery. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra goes bigger at 5,000 mAh. Every phone from $50 prepaid models to $1,500 flagships uses lithium ion-usually lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) chemistry because it maximizes capacity in tight spaces.

Laptops run larger batteries, typically 50-80 Wh for ultrabooks, up to 100 Wh for workstations. Actually, 100 Wh is the legal limit for carrying batteries on airplanes without special approval, which is why laptop makers target that number. The FAA set that rule after some lithium battery fires on planes in the 2000s.

Tablets fall in between-iPad Pro has about 40 Wh. Kindle Paperwhite? Tiny 6 Wh battery that lasts weeks because e-ink displays sip power.

Then there's all the other stuff. Wireless mice and keyboards (usually AAA-sized lithium ion cells). Bluetooth speakers-JBL, Ultimate Ears, Bose, all lithium ion. Gaming controllers. Smartwatches. Fitness trackers. Wireless security cameras. Video doorbells. Electric toothbrushes. The Oral-B iO series uses a lithium battery good for two weeks between charges.

AirPods Pro have 1.98 Wh of battery capacity combined between the earbuds and case. Which doesn't sound like much until you realize they're powering active noise cancellation, spatial audio processing, and wireless connectivity for hours.

What Has Lithium Ion Batteries

Electric vehicles changed the scale completely. Tesla Model 3 Long Range packs a 75 kWh battery-that's 75,000 watt-hours, or roughly 1,500 smartphone batteries worth of energy. The battery alone weighs about 1,000 pounds.

Most EVs use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) or lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry rather than the cobalt-heavy cells in phones. NMC offers good energy density with better thermal stability. LFP is safer and lasts longer-BYD and Tesla both use LFP for standard range models now. Trade-off is lower energy density, so you need more cells for the same range.

Ford F-150 Lightning has up to 131 kWh available. Rivian R1T goes to 135 kWh in the Max Pack configuration. Lucid Air Dream Range claims 112 kWh and gets over 500 miles of EPA range because their motors and electronics are crazy efficient.

Electric bikes are booming. Rad Power Bikes typically use 48V 14Ah packs (672 Wh). Higher-end e-bikes from Specialized or Trek run 500-700 Wh batteries. E-scooters are smaller-Xiaomi M365 uses 280 Wh, Bird and Lime rental scooters run similar capacities.

Electric motorcycles still niche but growing. Zero Motorcycles SR/F has a 14.4 kWh battery. Energica Ego+ pushes 21.5 kWh. Not quite enough for long highway trips yet, but getting there.

Boats are coming too. X Shore Eelex 8000 electric boat runs a 125 kWh battery pack. Candela C-8 hydrofoil boat uses 44 kWh and "flies" above water to reduce drag. Arc Sport electric wakeboard boat was at $300,000 last time I checked.

This transformation happened fast. Twenty years ago, serious contractors laughed at cordless tools. Today? Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, Bosch-they've all gone lithium.

DeWalt's FlexVolt system runs 20V or 60V depending on the tool. Milwaukee's M18 platform has over 200 tools sharing the same battery system. Their High Output batteries hit 12 Ah capacity-enough to run a circular saw through dozens of cuts.

Outdoor power equipment followed. Ego Power Plus makes a battery lawn mower using a 56V 7.5 Ah pack (420 Wh). Their string trimmers, leaf blowers, even snow blowers run the same battery platform. Ryobi has a 40V system. Greenworks offers 60V and 80V options for bigger equipment.

The robot vacuums and lawn mowers run smaller batteries since they recharge automatically. Roomba j7+ has about 60 Wh. Husqvarna Automower uses 18V lithium ion, capacity varies by model.

Professional equipment keeps growing. Milwaukee makes a backpack battery delivering 300 Wh for running multiple tools on job sites. Stihl offers battery chainsaws powerful enough for commercial tree work.

Portable oxygen concentrators are critical for people with respiratory conditions. Inogen One G5 uses a lithium ion battery providing 3-6 hours of operation depending on flow settings. Phillips Respironics Simply Go Mini targets about 4.5 hours.

CPAP machines for sleep apnea increasingly offer battery options. ResMed AirMini travel CPAP can run off external lithium batteries. Useful for camping or power outages.

Hearing aids switched to rechargeable lithium recently. Phonak Audeo Paradise charges overnight and runs 16+ hours. Starkey Evolv AI similar performance. Much better than fumbling with those tiny zinc-air button cells every few days.

Medical monitoring equipment-blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors, portable ECG devices-many now rechargeable. AliveCor KardiaMobile records ECGs on a phone, runs on a small lithium cell lasting months.

Infusion pumps, surgical tools, diagnostic equipment used in hospitals-lots of lithium ion backup batteries or portable power options. The Stryker System 8 surgical power tools use lithium ion batteries, sterile sealed for operating room use.

Implantable devices are a whole different category. Some newer pacemakers use rechargeable lithium ion batteries charged transcutaneously (through the skin) using induction. Medtronic has models where the battery gets recharged wirelessly once a week instead of needing surgical replacement every 7-10 years.

What Has Lithium Ion Batteries

Tesla Powerwall 2 stores 13.5 kWh, costs around $11,000 installed. Powerwall 3 came out recently with better integration. Generac PWRcell offers 9-18 kWh modular systems. LG Chem RESU goes from 10-16 kWh depending on configuration.

These home batteries pair with solar panels-store excess generation during the day, use it at night. Also provide backup during outages if configured properly. Not all systems work during blackouts; depends on the inverter setup.

California mandates solar on new homes, so battery adoption is accelerating there. Hawaii has high electricity costs plus lots of sun, making solar + storage economics work well. Texas had that grid failure in 2021 which drove interest in home batteries.

Commercial installations go much bigger. A grocery store might install 50-100 kWh of batteries for demand charge management. Data centers use megawatt-scale battery rooms for backup power, replacing or supplementing diesel generators.

Utility scale is wild. The Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California has 3,000 MWh of capacity-that's 3 million kilowatt-hours, or enough to power roughly 225,000 homes for several hours. It uses Tesla Megapack units, each one a shipping container-sized 3 MWh battery.

Australia's Hornsdale Power Reserve was one of the first big grid batteries, built by Tesla in 2017 at 150 MWh. It's been expanded since. These systems stabilize grid frequency, store renewable energy, reduce need for natural gas peaker plants.

UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems traditionally used lead-acid batteries. Heavy, needed replacement every 3-5 years, contained toxic materials. Lithium ion UPS systems from APC, Eaton, Vertiv last longer, take less space, weigh less. Data centers especially like this-reducing weight means less structural load in buildings.

Drones and quadcopters-DJI dominates this market. Their drones run lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries, which are technically a lithium ion variant with polymer electrolyte. DJI Mini 3 Pro uses a 2453 mAh battery for about 34 minutes flight time. Bigger drones like the Inspire 2 carry dual batteries totaling 98 Wh.

Professional drones for surveying, inspection, delivery-they all run lithium batteries. Zipline medical delivery drones in Africa use lithium ion. Amazon's delivery drone prototypes use them.

Aerospace applications expanding. Electric aircraft are coming. Pipistrel Velis Electro has lithium batteries-first fully electric plane certified for flight training in Europe. Beta Technologies and Joby Aviation developing electric air taxis powered by large lithium battery packs.

Satellites and spacecraft use specialized lithium ion batteries built to survive vacuum, radiation, temperature extremes. The International Space Station has lithium ion batteries replacing older nickel-hydrogen cells. Each battery module weighs 400+ pounds.

Military equipment-night vision goggles, tactical radios, GPS units, all running lithium batteries now. Better energy density matters when soldiers carry equipment for days. The AN/PRC-163 radio uses rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

Cameras and photo gear-mirrorless cameras from Sony, Canon, Nikon all lithium ion. Sony A7 IV uses NP-FZ100 batteries at 16.4 Wh each. Professional lighting-Aputure 300d LED lights run on V-mount lithium batteries (98 Wh standard size). Wireless microphones, video monitors, everything portable in film/photo production.

What Has Lithium Ion Batteries

Newer battery-powered products often have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity. You can check battery status on your phone. Ego power tools show charge level in an app. Ryobi tools too. Tesla lets you monitor your car's battery and charging remotely.

Smart battery management systems (BMS) do a lot of work. They balance cell voltage-in a multi-cell pack, individual cells drift apart over time, the BMS evens them out. They monitor temperature, prevent overcharging and overdischarging, communicate status to the device.

Some connected features feel gimmicky, but remote monitoring for expensive equipment makes sense. Construction crews can track which batteries need charging. Home energy storage owners can monitor solar production and battery status while traveling.

Security concerns exist though. Battery firmware needs updates sometimes. If that communication path isn't secured properly, it's a potential vulnerability. Not many people hack batteries, but in theory possible.

People encounter lithium batteries constantly without thinking about it. Electric toothbrush in the bathroom. Cordless vacuum cleaner (Dyson V15 has 70 Wh). Rechargeable flashlight. Power bank in your bag-Anker makes models from 10,000 mAh (37 Wh) up to 25,000 mAh (90 Wh).

Kids' toys increasingly rechargeable. Remote control cars, light-up toys, electronic learning devices. Beats buying alkaline batteries constantly.

Smart home devices-Ring video doorbell has a removable lithium battery. Arlo security cameras use rechargeable batteries lasting months. Google Nest thermostats have backup lithium batteries. August smart locks run on lithium AAs.

Holiday lights going rechargeable too. String lights with built-in batteries and solar panels. Rechargeable LED candles. Decorative items.

Professional use cases vary widely. Construction workers swap Milwaukee or DeWalt batteries all day. Warehouse forklifts charge lithium ion batteries during breaks-15-minute opportunity charging beats waiting hours for lead-acid batteries to charge.

Agricultural equipment adoption slower but happening. John Deere testing electric tractors. Autonomous farming robots often electric. Irrigation systems with battery backup.

Cleaning industry embraced lithium. Floor scrubbers, carpet extractors, commercial pressure washers-companies like Tennant and Karcher offer lithium options. Faster charging, lighter weight, no battery watering maintenance like old lead-acid systems needed.

Batteries degrade. Chemistry doesn't last forever. Typical lithium ion battery retains 80% capacity after 500-1000 charge cycles, depending on chemistry and usage patterns. Tesla warranties their EV batteries for 70% retention at 8 years/100,000-150,000 miles depending on model.

Temperature kills batteries faster than anything. Heat especially bad-storing or using batteries above 30°C (86°F) regularly accelerates degradation. Cold reduces temporary capacity but doesn't cause permanent damage like heat does. This is why Phoenix EV batteries degrade faster than Seattle batteries.

Calendar aging is real too. Batteries degrade even sitting unused. Store them at 40-50% charge in cool temperatures for longest shelf life. Keeping a battery at 100% charge and 40°C for extended periods is worst case.

Safety incidents happen rarely but make news when they do. Manufacturing defects caused Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fires in 2016-they recalled 2.5 million phones. Hoverboards caught fire so often in 2015-2016 that airlines banned them. Usually this traces to manufacturing quality control issues, physical damage, or charging with incorrect chargers.

Thermal runaway-when a cell overheats and the heat triggers further reactions that generate more heat-is the main failure mode. Properly designed batteries have multiple safety features: current limiting circuits, thermal fuses, pressure relief vents, separator shutdown layers. Cheap batteries skip these protections.

Compatibility frustrates users. Every tool brand uses different battery form factors. DeWalt batteries don't fit Milwaukee tools. Ryobi has been smart keeping their One+ platform compatible for years-tools from 2005 work with batteries from 2025. But most manufacturers want that vendor lock-in.

Recycling infrastructure still developing. Li-Cycle, Redwood Materials, and others building dedicated lithium battery recycling plants. They can recover 95%+ of battery materials. But collection logistics remain challenging-people throw batteries in trash, creating landfill problems.

The BMS is crucial but invisible. In a laptop, it monitors each cell group, estimates remaining runtime, controls charging rate, reports battery health to the operating system. More sophisticated than it sounds.

State-of-charge estimation is surprisingly difficult. Battery voltage correlates with charge level, but the relationship varies with temperature, load, battery age. Good BMS uses complex algorithms factoring all this in. That's why phone battery percentages sometimes jump or drop unexpectedly-the estimate gets recalibrated.

Cell balancing matters in multi-cell packs. Individual cells inevitably have slight capacity differences. During charging, a BMS might shunt current around fuller cells to let weaker ones catch up. Passive balancing dissipates energy as heat. Active balancing transfers energy between cells, more efficient but more expensive.

Temperature management-the BMS monitors cell temperature and can reduce charge/discharge rates if things get too hot. EVs have sophisticated thermal management with liquid cooling. Power tools just rely on thermal cutoffs.

Communication protocols-BMS chips talk to host devices using I2C, SMBus, CAN bus or proprietary protocols. This lets devices display accurate battery info and optimize performance.

Industrial applications integrate battery monitoring into broader systems. A warehouse might track all forklift batteries centrally, scheduling charging and flagging batteries needing replacement. Predictive maintenance based on BMS data.

Solid-state batteries are the holy grail. Replace liquid electrolyte with solid ceramic or polymer material. Theoretically safer-no flammable liquid. Higher energy density possible. Toyota claims they'll have solid-state batteries in vehicles by 2027-2028. QuantumScape, Solid Power, others developing the technology. But manufacturing at scale remains unsolved.

Sodium-ion batteries using salt instead of lithium-cheaper raw materials, potentially lower cost. CATL announced commercial sodium-ion batteries in 2021. Energy density lower than lithium ion, but that's acceptable for stationary storage. Northvolt building sodium-ion production in Europe.

Lithium-sulfur theoretically offers much higher energy density-up to 500 Wh/kg versus 250 Wh/kg for current lithium ion. But cycle life has been terrible, usually degrading after 50-100 cycles. Research continues.

Lithium-air (lithium-oxygen) batteries have even higher theoretical limits-potentially 1,000 Wh/kg. But they're still laboratory curiosities with huge practical challenges.

What Has Lithium Ion Batteries

For the next 5-10 years, conventional lithium ion will dominate. Incremental improvements keep coming-better cathode materials, silicon anodes replacing graphite (boosting capacity 20-40%), manufacturing process improvements reducing costs.

Battery costs dropped about 90% from 2010 to 2023, from roughly $1,100/kWh to $130/kWh for EV batteries. That trend continues, maybe hitting $80-100/kWh by 2030. At those prices, EVs reach cost parity with gas vehicles without subsidies.

Cobalt reduction is a major focus. Cobalt mining has human rights concerns and supply chain risks. Modern NMC batteries use less cobalt than older formulations (NMC 811 has 80% nickel, 10% manganese, 10% cobalt versus earlier 1:1:1 ratios). LFP batteries contain no cobalt at all.

Silicon anodes being commercialized now. Sila Nanotechnologies supplies silicon anode material to multiple manufacturers. Panasonic announced silicon anode batteries for production. Tesla using some silicon in their cells already. This boosts capacity 10-20% without changing anything else about the battery.

The question "what has lithium ion batteries" will have an even longer answer in five years. More categories of products going electric. More applications where lithium ion displaces older technologies. The technology matured rapidly but it's still improving.

Understanding which devices use lithium batteries matters more as we accumulate more of them. Most households now have 20-50 rechargeable devices. Knowing what you have, how to maintain it, and when to replace it makes those investments last longer and perform better.