Used in many mobile devices, hand-held controllers and portable equipment, lithium-ion battery packs are a common feature of many tools. Their ability to be powered directly from a mains source is a great advantage, circumventing the need for disposable batteries and unnecessary waste.

However there is a downside to ‘Li-on’ batteries, which is their lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries, while rechargeable do slowly degrade over time, thus losing their charge. Eventually a lithium-ion battery will become ‘dead’, non-functioning and requiring replacement.

The batteries will lose their charge over time regardless of if they are used or not. The temperatures they are stored at will also effect the rate of discharge. On a monthly cycle a typical battery will lose %8 of its total charge if stored at 21 °C, 15% at 40 °C and 31% at 60 °C.

Despite this, the batteries are lightweight, high energy density power sources that are used in vast numbers in an array of devices  and in many different tools.