There are rechargeable AA and AAA batteries and the regular ones that aren’t rechargeable.
Why not only sell ones that are rechargeable?
I get that companies won’t do this cause then they’d make less money, but is there another reason? Like are they more expensive/harder to make?
Comments
Yes, Non-rechargeable batteries are cheaper to produce because they have less complex internal construction. To way over simplify, rechargeable batteries require more complex construction that allows ions to flow backwards.
Also, rechargeable batteries typically can store less energy because of the types of chemicals used in that internal reaction. An alkaline battery typically can store more potential energy than a lithium ion battery for example.
Batteries make electricity using chemical reactions, and not all chemical reactions can be reversed.
Prior to lithium ion batteries, the chemistries that could be reversed tended to produce slightly lower voltage than the ones that couldn’t. This either made no difference, made the battery life shorter, or made the device run sluggishly.
In addition to the other comments, a short answer is simply, because people still buy them, and nobody has banned them.
Rechargables have lower voltage and lower peak power which makes them less useful for some devices (especially inductive ones like motors). Lithium-ion batteries can also become dangerous when damaged which makes them less than ideal for things that can be dropped, like toys. On top of that they’re more expensive to make.
It’s not “they’d make less money;” it’s “you would pay more.”
Chemistry teacher here! The internal chemical reactions in disposable batteries are fundamentally different. They’re designed for a single, efficient discharge, while rechargeables sacrifice some efficiency to make the chemical reaction reversible. It’s like comparing a paper cup to a ceramic mug – both have their uses.
Simple, planned obsolescence.
rechargable batteries discharge. If you put rechargables in your TV remote you’re going to have it going dead a lot. Alkaline batteries will keep it running for years. Same thing with clocks.
I must admit I don’t buy the rechargeable ones. Because then you have to buy the recharger, which seems to be brand specific. So now I’m locked in to only buying one battery brand. And then one or two years later the charger breaks and the designs have changed, and the rechargeable batteries are now useless and have to be thrown away anyway.
Some applications like TV remotes and smoke detectors, the functional life of the battery is the same as it’s shelf life, so infrastructure for recharging would be pointless.
If you’re out camping or on vacation sometimes you just want to throw a battery away and get a new one as opposed to recharging it.
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t most rechargeable batteries lithium?
Lithium batteries can have different risks involved that could make them less suitable for certain things. Like when I was a kid we had a battery powered water gun, and bubble blowers, and I’d probably be a little uncomfortable using lithium batteries around water like that. I’d also be hesitant about putting them in children’s toys that they play roughly with and could get damaged. Like if a regular battery is punctured the kid could get a chemical burn, which would be terrible, but if a lithium battery gets punctured the kid could get horrible burns, light their clothes on fire, and burn the house down, which would be extra terrible.
Most people only need batteries once in a while and don’t want another appliance kicking around the house. Rechargeable batteries don’t last long before they need another charge, too.
Although I still rather buy chargeable battery’s they SUCK. they have a few hours worth of power after charging all day.
I dont buy anything that uses disposable batteries. It’s worked well so far – 18650’s are definitely the way to go!
I have tried to change over several times, and it just isn’t practical. At home I am mostly using plugged-in electrical stuff. When I need batteries to work I am mostly not at home (where the charger is).
So I am out camping or boating or playing a concert; the rechargeable batteries always seem to be dead or dying because they do not hold a charge for long. So what do I do – cancel the activity and go home and wait for four hours for my virtue-juice cylinders recharge?
Or do I sigh, pop into a store and grab another package of wasteful, planet-killing juice cylinders. Sadly, most often I end up popping into a store and grabbing another package of wasteful, planet-killing juice cylinders.
Rechargeables arent always better! Theres a use case for disposables
I have alot of rechargeable AA’s but have shifted to disposables. Because rechargeables self discharge over a period of time.
If its something like a wireless mouse. Rechargeable itll last 2 weeks tops because it self drains. Disposable itll last half a year.
If its something you use regularly and uses alot of power, for example controller for your console or a toy. Sure, use a rechargeable.
But if its something you use infrequently or drains little power like remotes or a mouse, disposables are better
Yes, rechargeable batteries are a lot more expensive to make, they are fundamentally different from non rechargeable, using different materials and techniques to make.
It’s also worth noting they tend to suffer worse from self discharge, i.e. if you leave the battery sitting without drawing power from it a rechargeable will still loose charge over that time, non rechargeables do too, but nowhere near as bad. That means for low power applications, like say, a TV remote, you’ll get longer out of non rechargeable than out of a charge on rechargeables.
Finally, rechargeables have a finite life too, they are not infinitely rechargeable. They age and as they do you can’t get as much capacity from them, and eventually they need to be replaced.
Given all these draw backs it’s often just not economically viable to use rechargeables vs non rechargeables.
Interestingly enough, there used to be a charger (in the 90’s) designed for regular alkaline batteries. I bought one from Damark (i think), and it definitely worked.
Some non rechargeable batteries can actually be recharged. It’s not a great idea. It can cause fires.
Making something safe to recharge is a challenge.
Strictly speaking, rechargeable alkaline batteries actually exist, and even supposed disposable ones are actually rechargeable for about a dozen times, but you do this at your own risk.
Ooh! I have the answer to this.
Shelf life and reliability.
All batteries will drain while sitting on the shelf. However, rechargeable batteries will do it much faster, and their capacities may be affected.
So in applications where “This cannot fail. It must work for at least X amount of time” disposable batteries are preferred for their reliability.
Medical applications are a big one, I also know Theatre productions also go through buckets of batteries.
Rechargeable AA are usually NiMH – nickel metal hydride chemistry. They have a lower cell voltage than alkaline, which is not always what you want. They are also more expensive, and not every application needs recharge capability. It’s a good thing to have different types of batteries for different applications.
Alkaline and many other types of batteries are not rechargeable because the chemical reactions going on inside them are not perfectly reversible.
Even if the reaction is reversible at the surface of an electrode, the electrodes will not form the correct structures inside when they get recharged.
An example would be the pyramids of Egypt.
If a non rechargeable battery is like a pyramid, you get energy from knocking a high up brick to the ground. You can keep doing that until there aren’t any elevated bricks.
Now when you recharge it, you put each brick into a catapult and launch them all into a pile. The new pile is not a nice pyramid anymore, even though you are able to get some bricks up relatively high and they can still give you some energy back. But the messy pile becomes a problem for example some bricks are lost, broken, or hard to get out.
You can actually recharge regular alkaline batteries, with special chargers. You can get about 20 – 30 charges out of each battery. I’ve had the special charger for 30 years, Amway sold it in their catalog. Not sure if anyone makes a similar device anymore now that rechargeable alkalines are on the market.