The rechargeable batteries in Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle are both Lithium Ion-based. They are proven to be great rechargeable batteries, but are they really safe?

If you have followed the “tablet talking points” for both the iPad and Kindle, then you’ll know that one of the technological features of both of these popular devices are their incredibly long-lasting rechargeable batteries. The Kindle can go for almost two weeks without having to be charged. The iPad has a more modest charge life of 10 to 12 hours, but given the power and productivity of the iPad, this is still an amazing breakthrough in battery technology.

Both tablets, as well as virutally every laptop and high-tech electronic gadget on the market today, are now using Lithium Ion, or Li-Ion as they are commonly known, as the rechargeable battery technology of choice. To date, it has proven to be the superior technology for rechargeable batteries, and many battery experts believe that Li-Ion rechargeable batteries will eventually replace NiMH rechargeable batteries in hybrid automobiles as well as the consumer AA and AAA market.

Recently, however, there has been a bit of disconcerting news about the otherwise perfect Li-Ion rechargeable battery track record.

Just today, computer-making giant Hewlett Packard is recalling another 54,000 Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries from its laptops. This new crop of recalls joins an earlier recall of 70,000, all of which has been caused by widespread reports of these laptop batteries overheating and causing major damage to the computers and/or injuries to people.

This recent rash of Li-Ion recalls follows an even larger recall of Sony rechargeable laptop batteries in 2006 and 2007, when over 10 million Li-Ion batteries had to be recalled for the same reasons.

So what is the dirty little secret behind the otherwise idyllic Li-Ion battery?

The problems with Li-Ion rechargeable batteries has to do directly with Lithium metal. Lithium metal is incredibly unstable and dangerous, making it completely unsuitable for anything consumer-oriented. This is why early Lithium battery design quickly shifted to non-metallic lithium batteries using lithium ions. The industry rule is that, as long as we’re dealing with Lithium ions, then the technology is quite safe.

The problem, however, is that shoddy production quality can lead to microscopic Lithium metal particles in the battery cells. While a few of these are nothing to be concerned about, if the Li-Ion battery-making process is poorly managed, a large quantity of these metal particles can show up in the battery cells, transforming them from battery to bomb.

This is particularly true with laptop batteries, which are often constantly being fed electricity via a wall socket. The combination of a constant charge with too much Lithium metal in the battery cell can make for a potentially explosive situation.

Now, the good news is that Apple has worked tirelessly to develop a charging system on their new computers to ensure that the minimal amount of juice is being supplied to a MacBook’s battery at any given time. This, compounded with Apple’s usually good track record of production quality, would make one believe that its rechargeable batteries are safe.

For HP and the other manufacturers, however, the prognosis is not looking good. Because Microsoft-based laptop and netbook manufacturers are currently in a price war to make the cheapest computers possible, low-quality components — including their batteries — are becoming a reality for unsuspecting laptop users.

Still, most avid gadget geeks are not going to let the outside chance of an exploding battery ruin their quest for the ultimately mobile computing experience. It would take a lot of Li-ion battery tragedy to sour the world on all of the mind-blowing devices that are using Li-Ion technology. But if you are a bit nervous about your mobile gadget going kaboom, researching the best companies with high quality and safety standards (hint, hint — Apple) is always a best practice for buying a gadget with a battery that you can rely on.

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