Airbus to ditch lithium-ion batteries – for now
Airbus is telling airlines that its new A350 will use nickel-cadmium instead of lithium-ion batteries until questions about lithium-ion batteries have been resolved. The Airbus A350 should debut late next year.
Airbus employees work in the cockpit section of an A350 Airbus airplane at the Airbus facility in Montoir-de-Bretagne near Saint-Nazaire, western France, in December. Airbus says it will use nickel-cadmium batteries in the new A350 until lithium-ion batteries are shown to be reliable.
Stephane Mahe/Reuters/File
Airbus has started informing airlines that have ordered the new A350 that the new plane will have Nickel-Cadmium batteries, rather than lithium-ion batteries, the European plane maker told CNBC Thursday.
Airbus said the move is based entirely on reducing uncertainty in the program schedule -- not due to any safety concerns.
Airbus will continue working on eventually using lithium-ion batteries in A350 models, but until questions about the reliability of those batteries are resolved, the European plane maker will use nickel-cadmium batteries.
The plane maker is on track on deliver the A350 late next year. The lithium-ion batteries, used to power Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, are the subject of a probe after technical problems at two of the planes prompted regulators worldwide grounded entire the fleet of 50 planes last month.