Battery Data

Here is a graph and a table that shows mass/energy relationships for various types of batteries available to modelers.

The battery data is taken from the MAXX/MPI web site (where those batteries can be bought).

The second last column in the table below shows the energy capacity per gram (the specific energy of each cell) in Joules per gram (Joules/gram = Amperes*Volts*seconds/gram = 3600/1000*mAh*volts/gram).

Brand	Name	Type	mAh	Dim (mm)	Mass (g)	Volts	Joules/g	Price ($)
Non-Sanyo	NH-120AAA	Nimh	120	10.0x 15.0	4	1.2	129.6	2.00
Non-Sanyo	NH-220AAA	Nimh	220	10.0x 28.5	7	1.2	135.8	2.00
Non-Sanyo	NH-500AA	Nimh	500	14.0x 29.5	12	1.2	180.0	2.50
Sanyo	NH-720AAA	Nimh	720	10.0x 44.0	14	1.2	222.2	3.15
Non-Sanyo	NH-1000A	Nimh	1000	16.5x 27.8	20	1.2	216.0	2.75
Sanyo	NH-1650AA	Nimh	1650	14.0x 49.5	27	1.2	264.0	3.75
Sanyo	NH-2700A	Nimh	2700	16.5x 48.5	38	1.2	306.9	5.25
Sanyo	RC-3000HV	Nimh	3000	22.0x 42.0	60	1.2	216.0	8.25
Panasonic	P-2000SCP	Nimh	2000	23.0x 33.0	42	1.2	205.7	6.75
LG-Chem	LI-2000	Li-ion	2000	18.3x 64.6	44	3.6	589.1	13.00
Sanyo	N-50AAA	NiCadStd	50	10.0x 15.0	4	1.2	54.0	2.00
Sanyo	N-110AA	NiCadStd	110	14.0x 16.7	7	1.2	67.9	2.00
Sanyo	N-120TA	NiCadStd	120	7.5x 41.8	6	1.2	86.4	2.65
Sanyo	N-150N	NiCadStd	150	11.5x 28.5	8	1.2	81.0	2.00
Sanyo	N-250AAA	NiCadStd	250	10.0x 44.0	10	1.2	108.0	2.25
Non-Sanyo	N-250AE	NiCadStd	250	16.5x 16.3	9	1.2	120.0	2.00
Sanyo	N-270AA	NiCadStd	270	14.5x 29.5	12	1.2	97.2	1.60
Sanyo	N-350AAC	NiCadStd	350	14.5x 29.5	13	1.2	116.3	2.00
Sanyo	N-700AA	NiCadStd	700	14.5x 49.5	21	1.2	144.0	1.50
Sanyo	KR-1300SC	NiCadStd	1300	22.0x 42.0	44	1.2	127.6	2.75
Sanyo	KR-7000F	NiCadStd	7000	32.3x 90.0	220	1.2	137.5	19.00
Sanyo	KR-600AE	NiCadHicap	600	16.5x 27.8	18	1.2	144.0	2.25
Sanyo	KR-800AAE	NiCadHicap	800	14.0x 49.5	22	1.2	157.1	2.30
Sanyo	KR-1100AAU	NiCadHicap	1100	14.0x 49.5	24	1.2	198.0	3.10
Sanyo	KR-1200AE	NiCadHicap	1200	16.5x 48.5	31	1.2	167.2	3.25
Sanyo	KR-1400AE	NiCadHicap	1400	16.5x 48.5	32	1.2	189.0	3.50
Sanyo	KR-1500AUL	NiCadHicap	1500	16.5x 42.0	29	1.2	223.4	3.75
Sanyo	KR-1700AUL	NiCadHicap	1700	16.5x 48.5	33	1.2	222.5	4.25
Sanyo	KR-1800SCE	NiCadHicap	1800	22.0x 42.0	48	1.2	162.0	3.95
Sanyo	KR-5000DEL	NiCadHicap	5000	32.3x 60.0	152	1.2	142.1	11.50
Sanyo	CP-1300SCR	NiCadRapid	1300	23.0x 28.0	33	1.2	170.2	4.65
Sanyo	N-1250SCRL	NiCadRapid	1250	23.0x 34.0	41	1.2	131.7	3.95
Sanyo	N-1700SCR	NiCadRapid	1700	23.0x 33.0	44	1.2	166.9	5.00
Sanyo	N-1900SCR	NiCadRapid	1900	23.0x 42.0	55	1.2	149.2	5.00
Sanyo	CP-2400	NiCadRapid	2400	23.0x 42.0	58	1.2	178.8	5.50
Sanyo	RC-2400	NiCadRapid	2400	23.0x 42.0	58	1.2	178.8	6.75
Sanyo	N-3000CR	NiCadRapid	3000	25.2x 49.0	85	1.2	152.5	6.70
Sanyo	N-3600CR	NiCadRapid	3600	25.2x 49.0	89	1.2	174.7	8.95

The graph below shows the energy capacity of each cell type as a function of its mass in grams. To make easy for the reader, the energy capacity is measured in mAh*v/1.2 (current*time*volt = energy). In this unit, the cell's energy capacity is equal to its nominal mAh capacity if its voltage is 1.2v. In these units, the 3.6v, 2000mAh Li-Ion battery id 6000mAh*v/1.2 (which is off the chart).

The yellow lines indicate lines of constant capacity per gram. Batteries situatued on steeper lines are better. For example, the Sanyo NH-720AAA NiMH seem to have an excellent energy to mass ratio (720mAh for 14 grams), and so do the Sanyo NH-1650AA Nimh (1650mAh for 27 grams) and the Sanyo NH-2700A Nimh (2700mAh for 38 grams).

[click on image for a larger printable .PNG version]