Finally an interesting product. AAAA batteries.

batteries

Not AAA batteries, AAAA batteries, that extra A is very important. I first came across AAAA batteries when the stylus on my Microsoft surface needed a battery replacement and I opened it up to find this monstrosity. I have never seen a AAAA battery in a normal store in Canada, but at the same time I’ve never really looked.

I was curious how the AAAA battery came to be. On Wikipedia it says that “Energizer created the first AAAA battery in 1989, pressured by environmental initiatives to eliminate added mercury in batteries.”, but the source that it cites doesn’t give a justification for this statement, so I don’t know if it’s actually true or not. The EPA also says that most batteries today do not contain mercury anymore so if you are looking to buy AAAA batteries specifically for their mercuryless properties you are going to be sorely dissapointed.

On energizer’s website it says “1989: Energizer led the industry in environmental initiatives to eliminate added mercury in batteries., - Energizer introduced the first commercially available AAAA alkaline battery.” but it is unclear if these two statements are actually linked in some way or if they just both happened in 1989.

In my searching I learned that AAAA batteries are actually way more commonplace than I thought. Apparently many 9V batteries are just 6 AAAA batteries in series.

Anyways, the battery worked. Five stars out of five.