Hi,
Vast majority of the low-cost consumer products utilizing Li-Ion polymer cells on the market do not use charge controllers. Many of these simply rely on the PCM to prevent over and under voltage conditions, and dangerous currents. For NiMH it's even worse, these simply use a "safe" floating voltage.
What are the verifiable, quantitative, value retaining arguments for including an extra charge controller in your circuit. Even a minor $1 part can result in $4 final price increase on a $20 consumer product (a price jump of 20% !!).
If I as an engineer am supposed to convince of the value of an additional piece of hardware, I feel as I will need something more than the charge controller selection guide.
As much as I hate to say it, I need to be able to put a price on safety.
Any thoughts on how to accomplish that?
