New Gadgets Power the Need for Batteries With More Zip

Buying batteries used to be easy--you picked the right size and decided whether you wanted to spend a little extra for the alkaline kind.

But those days are quickly fading. A boom in portable gadgets is powering an even larger boom in the battery universe. Today’s power cells come in myriad prices, sizes and types.

New names like “Ultra,” “Advanced Formula” and “Maximum Alkaline” have entered the lexicon. Advances in chemistry and electronic technology are boosting battery life, versatility and performance.

Consumers will be confronting this changed landscape as they move into the holiday season, traditionally the year’s biggest battery-buying period. In fact, battery sales typically jump 50% in October, November and December, compared with the rest of the year.

Children’s toys will consume many of those batteries, but the number of other devices relying on batteries is growing tremendously as well. By one estimate, the average American home now contains 39 different battery-powered devices.

Among them are digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants, remote controls and personal audio systems. All need batteries so they can be used anywhere, anytime.

“Why does one use a battery anyway? Because we don’t like to walk around with a cord plugged into the wall,” explains Jim Fenton, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Connecticut. “What you’re paying for is convenience, light weight and portability.”

Despite the many changes batteries are undergoing, shoppers will find at least one constant: Alkaline batteries remain king of the hill. Alkalines account for about $2.5 billion a year in battery sales.

These aren’t yesterday’s alkaline batteries, however. Experts agree that a variety of technical innovations make today’s alkalines the best that have ever been produced.

“If you look at batteries over the last 10 years, performance has basically doubled in alkaline batteries,” said Jerry Albright, director of marketing for Rayovac Corp. in Madison, Wis. “You’re basically getting a much better battery today than you were a decade ago.”

To be sure, batteries haven’t shown the same kind of stunning increases in power and performance that are common among computers and consumer electronics. Still, advances in electrochemistry and production techniques have made for noticeably better batteries.

Thinner battery containers, for example, allow for more power-generating chemicals to be built into today’s batteries. And new chemical formulations allow for more efficient transfers of electricity.

Such advances have led to one of the biggest recent changes in consumer-grade batteries--the advent of high-performance alkalines. These batteries are designed to meet the growing demands of electronic devices for power.

“There’s no question that in the area of consumer electronics, the average drain rate or current demand from the devices that are popular today has increased,” said John Grady, Eveready’s general manager for technology.

Duracell, based in Danbury, Conn., introduced its version of the new battery this year.

Available in AA and AAA sizes, the new Duracell “Ultra” line of alkalines promises up to 50% longer life when used in high-drain devices, such as cellular phones, mini-disc players, digital cameras and camcorders. The price for Duracell Ultra is about 20% more than its regular alkaline batteries.

“Consumers are very comfortable paying for that extra performance of those batteries,” said Duracell spokeswoman Jill Fallon.

Duracell’s chief rival, Eveready, introduced its high-performance batteries in 1997. Known as “Energizer Advanced Formula,” the batteries are available in all the traditional standard sizes: AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt.

Eveready has upgraded its entire alkaline product line to the new advanced formula, whereas Duracell has simply added “Ultra” products in the AA and AAA sizes.

So which battery lasts the longest?

Measuring and comparing batteries is an inexact science. Some batteries respond better to certain types of tests; others to certain types of use; still others to certain kinds of electronic devices.

As a result, a variety of different batteries can lay claim to being the “longest lasting,” depending on what type of test is being used.

Tim Mooney, who tests batteries on behalf of Consumer Reports magazine, said that price--not battery type--is actually the most important factor in deciding which battery to buy.

“Our advice with batteries in general is to buy them on sale. The differences in price are much bigger than the difference in performance,” he said.

Another industry trend is the growing number of special-purpose batteries. Not content with the standard AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt sizes, gadget-makers increasingly build devices that require their own unique batteries.

In particular, camcorders and cell phones often need nonstandard batteries. Part of the reason is that consumer demand for smaller, thinner devices prompts manufacturers to seek out special batteries that will work in ever-smaller spaces.

Today’s high-powered laptop computers are ushering in yet another kind of battery: a lithium-based rechargeable version that not only features high-output, but also long life.

Because lithium is an extremely reactive metal, the first lithium-based batteries were expensive and potentially dangerous. But a more recent formulation, known as lithium-ion, has improved performance on both counts.