Sony announced it will initiate a global replacement program for the potentially risky lithium ion battery packs found in some notebooks such as Dell.
“Sony is discussing the plan with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and will coordinate with other government authorities as required. We will announce details of the program in the near future,” the company said in a statement.
The explanation for the explosions, Sony says is “On rare occasions, microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery cells may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a possibility of short circuit within the cell. Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs. However, under certain rare conditions an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially flames. The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in different notebook computers. Sony believes that this engineering analysis remains valid.”
The company said it will consult with its OEM customers that use the battery cells and “work with those that choose to participate regarding quantity and the scheduling of replacement battery packs.”
