Wal-Mart’s 1,000 stores nationwide will begin carrying disposable zinc-air cell phone batteries from Electric Fuel Corp. in time for the holiday shopping season.
Each battery offers at least six hours of talk time and 60 hours of standby time for analog handsets, based on laboratory tests Electric Fuel has conducted. For digital phones, the batteries provide 15 hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby time.
Zinc-air batteries do not contain volatile or toxic materials, like lithium or cadmium, found in many batteries used today, said Electric Fuel. They have a two-year shelf life and weigh between 20 percent and 40 percent less than competing rechargables, the company said.
Wal-Mart will sell the zinc-air disposables under the “EverActive” brand name. In the announcement Nov. 7, Electric Fuel did not disclose the shelf price for batteries sold at Wal-Mart However, the company had estimated a few years ago that the retail price would range between $7 and $10 once it had gone to full production levels.
“We are pleased to be working with electric Fuel to make this innovative, patented technology available to our customers,” said Doug McMillon, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of Wal-Mart.
“This new product demonstrates both companies’ commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality at every day low prices.”
Electric Fuel, publicly traded on Nasdaq, is headquartered in New York. It has manufacturing and research facilities in Jerusalem, Israel and Auburn, Ala.
