Boeing CEO: ‘We Feel Good’ About Dreamliner Batteries

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Boeing CEO Jim McNerney doubled down on the company’s choice of lithium ion batteries in its new Dreamliner 787 planes, which have been grounded by air traffic authorities around the globe following a battery fire on a Dreamliner 787 at Boston’s Logan International Airport on January 7, reports of overheated batteries, and other worrisome technical failures, including leaking fuel. 

Speaking during the company’s profitable fourth quarter earnings call, McNerney said that Boeing was working with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to pinpoint the cause of the battery fire and that it continue production of the planes using the lithium ion batteries, as USA Today reported:

“Nothing we’ve learned has told us yet that we have made the wrong choice on the battery technology,” McNerney said. “We feel good about the battery technology and its fit for the airplane.”

Lithium ion batteries power everything from consumer electronics to electric cars, and have been prone to overheat in other cases because of their higher energy density than other type sof batteries, which also leads to improved energy efficiency. 

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