EU Won't Require User-Replaceable Batteries for Wearables (thurrott.com) 74
The European Commission has exempted wearables from upcoming EU rules requiring portable-device batteries to be removable and user-replaceable. The broader Batteries Regulation still takes effect in February 2027 for many consumer products, but the exemption means companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Meta won't have to redesign their wearables for the EU. Thurrott reports: Yesterday, the Commission announced that new product categories would be exempted from complying with its Batteries Regulation, including wearable devices such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smart glasses. This will likely be good news for companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Meta, which won't have to redesign their devices to include user-replaceable batteries for consumers in the EU market.
The EU's Batteries Regulation will come into effect in February 2027, which is when Nintendo plans to stop selling all models of the original Nintendo Switch in the EU. While Nintendo had no choice but to redesign its handheld console to keep selling it in the EU, it probably didn't make sense for the company to put in the same effort for the OG Switch, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in March 2027.
The EU's Batteries Regulation will come into effect in February 2027, which is when Nintendo plans to stop selling all models of the original Nintendo Switch in the EU. While Nintendo had no choice but to redesign its handheld console to keep selling it in the EU, it probably didn't make sense for the company to put in the same effort for the OG Switch, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in March 2027.
Battery standarization for EVs please... (Score:5, Interesting)
Look at BMW i3 - people are buying old car, buying new 2x larger battery and suddenly they god a nice car..
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Why? Literally nothing in a car is standardised and different body shapes require different platforms which mean different batteries. That's before you consider different chemistries requiring different BMS, different battery types and sizes require different cooling systems, which are achieved in different ways. Battery packs have different voltages, and batteries for different engines have different discharge requirements.
There's many things we should standardise in the world, but EV battery standardisati
Re: Battery standarization for EVs please... (Score:2)
On one hand, you raise good points, and on the other hand they don't apply to automotive traction batteries. Battery packs are chassis structural members.
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Swappable batteries seem to make sense for city cars, otherwise they don't really work out. It would perhaps work better if we built space frame vehicles, but unibody is actually superior for overall user experience, especially in NVH.
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As you say city cars is currently a valid use case, and the reason for the uptake in China. However as street side, car parks and apartme
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Battery = Fuel tank. - Neither are standardised, yet.
Plug type = Nozzle type. - Both have standards, but some EV owners have to deal with adaptors.
Electricity = Fuel. - Both have standards, EV tend to more flexible about supported voltages and currents than ICEVs about octane ratings etc.
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For gasoline and diesel vehicles, fuel is, actually, standardized.
Not by the car industry. They are using an off the shelf product from another industry. The oil industry standardised fuel. Fun fact: The fuel standards have changed over time and this has resulted in both damage to cars due to them not being able to take the different fuels, and if anyone is driving a car from the 70s I hope you're adding the required additives to your tank after you full up at the pump or your engine won't last very long.
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For gasoline and diesel vehicles, fuel is, actually, standardized
Well, if we're talking about fuel, then yes: electrons are standardized! Heck, even the delivery mechanisms (i.e., the electrical grid) are standardized - at least regionally.
If you're going to complain about EV batteries not being standardized between vehicles, well: try transplanting the fuel tank from a 1999 Silverado into a 2018 BWM, or vice-versa. Or really any of the parts, come to think of it.
there are only a limited number of batteries for ICE vehicles: while it's a large collection, they're relatively standard and if you have the space you can generally fit a larger one than you need in the same vehicle without problems.
If you want to talk about the 12-V batteries in cars - nothing about them except the chemistry and nomin
Re:Battery standarization for EVs please... (Score:4, Informative)
Literally nothing in a car is standardised
Standardised doesn't mean only one shape or size, but it can mean that it is easy to find a matching part:
Tires.
Windshield wipers.
Gasoline.
Oil specs.
Those old 12v incandescent bulbs for tail lights, marker lights, and blinkers.
Air valves on wheels.
12v power point (used to be called cigarette lighter).
12v system.
Lead acid batteries.
Bolts. Nuts. washers.
Fuel line. Brake line. vacuum hose.
Sure most parts are unavoidably car-specific, but for most wear items things are mostly standardized enough to find a part that will work. EV batteries can be made that way if enough people care to make it happen. We still have the AA battery in the same form factor, even though they are now much higher capacity, longer lived, leak less, can be rechargeable, and are offered in many chemistries but are still plug and play.
There is no reason a standardized form factor could not be made, allowing parallel use for higher capacity in that macho penis-mobile. But they would be easily replaceable and cheaper due to economies of scale thanks to standardization leading to commodity type availability.
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They are. EV batteries are almost always assemblies of pretty standard cells, just like any other modern battery. The Tesla Model S and X use 18650s. That's the AA of the lithium ion world and is the same thing that's in those oh-so-proprietary power tool batteries, some laptops, battery banks, etc.
There's a burgeoning market of battery refurbishers who crack open old batteries and replace bad cells. Or you can just order a third party replacement, just like you can buy afte
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Let me just go on rock auto and order a Tesla compatible battery pack - um nope.
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Yes, and you pointed out yourself that nothing is really standardized like that across cars. When you go to your autoparts store and ask the guy for pretty much anything from transmission fluid to windshield wipers he asks you the make, model and year, then looks up the correct part because none of it is standardized.
https://greentecauto.ca/ [greentecauto.ca]
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Your post is wildly off base and in many cases you're pointing out things which aren't standard or aren't in control of the car. You also point out specific components of a car that have had zero technical development because they were already technically perfect. Let's go through them shall we:
- Tires: Tires aren't standard by any requirement. The size and dimensions were originally defined by car manufacturers. Tires have varied wildly over the years and 3rd party manufacturers have met the market demand.
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Sure most parts are unavoidably car-specific, but for most wear items things are mostly standardized enough to find a part that will work.
Are you suggesting that an EV's battery is a wear item? The evidence from the field - millions of vehicles fielded over the last two decades - suggests that the battery will outlive the car itself, or last at least as long as the internal combustion engine of a conventional vehicle. (The battery is zero maintenance, too, which cannot be said of the ICE.)
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Why? Literally nothing in a car is standardised and different body shapes require different platforms which mean different batteries. That's before you consider different chemistries requiring different BMS, different battery types and sizes require different cooling systems, which are achieved in different ways. Battery packs have different voltages, and batteries for different engines have different discharge requirements.
I think batteries should not only be standardized but modular so people can purchase capacity or replacements as needed amongst a small number of different classes corresponding to size/mass/voltage/current. If I need lots of range or performance I purchase the maximum number of modules that will fit my vehicle. If not I might only purchase a single module accepting associated range and performance limits.
This would have the advantage of driving competition, innovation and cost reductions in the battery m
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Literally every EV uses Panasonic 18650 cells already, the lockdown is in software.
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Hearing aid batteries (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hearing aid batteries (Score:4, Insightful)
Have been tiny and replaceable for decades. What excuse does AirPods have?
Now you've done it. Expect a lot of responses from morons that think you need to swim with AirPods in, and that gaskets can't be made small.
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Now you've done it. Expect a lot of responses from morons that think you need to swim with AirPods in, and that gaskets can't be made small.
I'll settle for the fact that standard hearing aids batteries don't even remotely fit in the form factor of a hearing aid. You don't need to make up some non-existing engineering limitation, there's plenty of real ones to choose from.
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Now you've done it. Expect a lot of responses from morons that think you need to swim with AirPods in, and that gaskets can't be made small.
I'll settle for the fact that standard hearing aids batteries don't even remotely fit in the form factor of a hearing aid. You don't need to make up some non-existing engineering limitation, there's plenty of real ones to choose from.
Have you not seen a hearing aid and the batteries they take in thirty years? Those things have been impossibly small for the last decade and a half.
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Have been tiny and replaceable for decades. What excuse does AirPods have?
Errr, hearing aids are significantly larger with standard hearing aid batteries being larger than airpods themselves, all the while hearing aids do not even remotely excel in audio quality which in itself requires very specific design of not just the driver but the housing around it.
Like seriously that is an insanely ignorant example. Cheese also contains calcium so what excuse does chalk have for not being used as a sandwich topping?
Re:Hearing aid batteries (Score:5, Informative)
No, they're not. My dad has hearing aids and they are about the same size as an airpod.
For reference, this is close to [hearivo.com], but not the same as, what he has. This shows the size [headphonesty.com] of the various airpod models. They are not "significantly larger" than a hearing aid, and in fact are nearly identical in size.
Like seriously that is an insanely ignorant example. Cheese also contains calcium so what excuse does chalk have for not being used as a sandwich topping?
Yes, your example is insanely ignorant. Cheese is a food. Chalk is not.
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Can you? In my experience rechargeable batteries tend to have a lower voltage and slightly larger size/stored power than well designed single use batteries. Once you get to hearing aid size this may be significant. (OTOH, my experience of the comparison is about two decades old.)
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lower voltage only matter if you are talking about standard AA and AAA (and all other formats), where the device is designed for 1.5v and rechargeable works usually in the 1.2v (due to the limitation of that old rechargeable tech). That on some devices may mean less power/strength/etc
if you use a new Li-Ion battery (many with usb port), you get a constant 1.5v (with a included small device to lower from 3.7v internally to that voltage)
But if you design already the device for rechargeable, you are already re
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sure, but if it requires a new one every day, a rechargeable one, even if a little bigger or with a little less capacity, is used! it would be a stupid design
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Two decades old would probably mean you're considering NiMH rechargeable vs Alkaline primary - 1.2V vs 1.5. On the other hand, NiMH cells have much lower internal resistance, which makes it such that NiMH cells can actually provide more power, as the 1.5V of Alkaline gets pulled down to 1.2V or less much faster, as load increases.
Today, it'd be LiIon more often, though lithium primary cells exist as well, and both tend to be ~3V and low internal resistance. Yes, the primary cell, along with chemistries li
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My mother has hearing aids that fit completely in the ear (not behind it), and use replaceable batteries. That's how I know this is possible.
Anything is possible when you give up on design requirements. The smallest hearing aid battery is a size 10 and with it's 5.8mm diameter it would make the current generation Airpods 30% larger at the stem to fit the batteries.
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Maybe but Airpods and hearing aids have very different functionality. Speaking only for myself I'm not willing to accept loss of function or increased weight and size for a replaceable battery. If they can do it without those compromises then fine. However I would suggest such things are left to the market. If people value replaceable batteries then somebody will make a product with one.
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I'm sorry but I feel like you either posted incorrect links or just helped me make my case. That first example you have from hearivo, go look at an open view of them and check the battery size. Hint: The battery dimensions are physically larger than the bits sticking out of the Airpods which contain the battery.
Now if you wanted to compare them to my JBL earphones you'd have a point. My JBL earphones are physically significantly larger and... fun fact... use the same form factor battery as a typical over th
Re: Hearing aid batteries (Score:1)
That model youâ(TM)ve linked to doesnâ(TM)t match the earbud style. Hereâ(TM)s one that does: https://hearivo.com/product/hearivo-qx-pro/
There is no mention of battery replacement, instead they are touted as not needing replacement batteries.
Re: Hearing aid batteries (Score:5, Informative)
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What do you use an oura ring for?
(Since you've bought an upgrade, you must have some uses...but I couldn't think of any, so I never considered buying one.)
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They have many uses; use you imagination:
- fixing a wobbly table
- drawing small circles
- a washer for low-strength mechanical fastenings
- they can be used measure time if rigged up as a pendulum weight
...
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OK. That's a specific use case that's hard to argue with. It didn't occur to me as I've never needed it...and I can't think of anything that it would be useful for that I either do or would like to do.
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I just replaced a hearing aid battery not ten minutes ago. They're 8mm by 5mm in case you were wondering.
And the external dimension of the Airpod stem is 4.5-5.5mm depending on the model. Thanks for helping me make my point. The smallest hearing aid battery on the market does not fit into the case of an Airpod. Also it's 91mAh compared to Apple's 300ish
There's a lot of benefit of custom dimension batteries for tiny electronics.
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People don't even think before typing!
normal disposable batteries is already ancient tech... anything build around that is either very low consumption (last several months) or also old tech (old flashlights, use led ones, specially with rechargeable batteries, much better!)
you can use them, but if it is something that consume that many so fast, better use something you can recharge! but even normal rechargeable batteries are old tech, you can now replace AA and AAA batteries with LI-Ion ones, that charge v
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Hearing aids have already long been exempted from this regulation for safety reasons.
What is replaceable are the non-rechargeable zinc-air batteries, which go into really large hearing aids. When those are empty, the must be replaced.
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And also diver's watches, so there is no excuse for smart watches not having a replaceable battery either. People understand perfectly well that they need to have the gasket properly replaced if they want to maintain water resistance. Not that anyone would warranty a smart watch by the time the battery needs replacing.
Now, watch the scramble... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Now, watch the scramble... (Score:2)
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Or just throw a magsafe connectable belt clip. BAM wearable.
iPhones will come with a belt clip (Score:2)
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Just a matter of time (Score:2)
It looks more like a temporary issue, better work on compliance before the law comes back. After all the commission does not decide things:
Here is the legal base:
"The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend paragraph 2 of this Article by adding further products to be exempted from the removability and replaceability requirements laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article. Such delegated acts shall be adopted only on account of market developments and technical an
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Why would the law come back? What basis do you have to believe the EC's recommendation won't be adopted by parliament? They usually are. Many laws are literally created by deferring to the EC to draft them, including this very one they are amending.
It is also offensive that the EC informs the WTO TBT but not the European Parliament.
WTF you talking about the European Parliament literally got the the EC's output through this process. This is the normal process. Nothing takes affect without scrutiny from the parliament and the council. The fact we are talking about it now means it's literally
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This is not voted on by Parliament but Parliament could object to it. Under Article 290 TFEU, delegated acts may supplement or amend non-essential elements of a legislative act. The original legislation must define the objectives, scope, content and duration of the delegation. Parliament and the Council retain control: they may revoke the delegation or object to an individual delegated act. Here we have the Commission using a delegated act, an administrative measure, to amend the European law, without meeti
In future EU phone news (Score:3)
EU Won't Require User-Replaceable Batteries for Wearables
Cell phones sold in the EU come with attached wrist bands and companies call them wearable.
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I wonder what "wearables" represents in the original language of the decision. That would make a big difference.
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I'm sure they have some definition for it somewhere in the legislation, probably an appendix or glossary.
"Designed to be worn on the body during operation or use, such as watches, hearing aids/headphones, body monitors, glasses, etc..."
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That's a reasonable guess, but I bet the language was French or German, and there often are changes in meaning when one translates. (Even within the same language. Consider "Baby sitter" vs "nanny".)
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That's right, never underestimate the greed and complete disdain corporate assholes have for their customers.
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So, only six months ... (Score:3)
... before the regulation comes into force, and the pencil pushers in Brussels do a U-turn?
Any respectable company with a battery-powered product has already spent two years on designing a replaceable alternative. Now all that effort is for nothing. Whoever argues that replaceability by itself will be a selling argument: If that were true, this regulation would not be needed.
When the regulation was published first in 2024, I drafted a polite letter inquiring how conformity can be achieved for products that are too small to accommodate any of the commercially available plugs (full disclosure: I happen to develop such products). In response, I got back an unspeakably arrogant note that I only need to read the text of the law, and all would be clear. As if!
My respect for these aloof, out of touch trolls is below zero. Next time, their nonsense will be ignored. Will save me a lot of work!
Re: So, only six months ... (Score:2)
Seeing how intense was the lobbying of American brands against it, it validates the notion that the intentional battery crappification is true.
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... before the regulation comes into force, and the pencil pushers in Brussels do a U-turn?
Only a small subset of the law was excluded. Calling this a u-turn is stupid.
Any respectable company with a battery-powered product has already spent two years on designing a replaceable alternative. Now all that effort is for nothing.
This may be true for larger devices, but it's very unlikely to be the case for wearables where it was always going to be a major technical limitation. I suspect many companies actually were just waiting this out since it has been clear for a long time that industry was lobbying for an exception on technical grounds.
In response, I got back an unspeakably arrogant note that I only need to read the text of the law, and all would be clear. As if!
I'm not sure what you thought you were going to get as an answer. You probably wrote to someone whose job it was to i
Little batteries cause big problems (Score:2)
I don't understand how easily removable batteries in everything isn't globally required of all consumer products. All of this electronic shit eventually gets thrown in the trash with integrated rechargeable lithium ion batteries and ends up starting fires .. thousands of them each year throughout waste collection systems of Europe.