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Power play: Part 1 of 2; Technical problems with lithium ion batteries await answers as startups take on established makers.(Special Report)

Byline: Richard Truett

Prabhakar Patil loses sleep after he reads news of overheating lithium ion batteries in laptop computers.

Patil worries that consumers will link the powerful, long-lasting batteries with danger - just like people think of the Hindenburg disaster whenever hydrogen is mentioned.

"It does become very personal when your laptop catches fire,'' says Patil. "That can't happen in a vehicle.''

The speed at which a battery-fueled electrical fire can spread in a car, and the damage it can do, is awesome, says Patil, who ran Ford Motor Co.'s hybrid vehicle operations from 1998 to 2003.

Now Patil, 56, is CEO of Compact Power Inc., a startup ...

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