It looks and acts like a battery pack but kraftwerk is actually the first hand-held fuel cell generator that can regenerate energy in less than 3 seconds. And it can power all your mobile devices for weeks.
kraftwerk, which translates to “power station” in German, is the product of eZelleron, an engineering team that spun out of German research firm Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.
The kraftwerk units come in three different colors, “Urban,” “Outdoor” and “Glam” and run on a short spray of camping gas or standard lighter fluid. This is something you can easily find at most corner stores throughout the world. It will charge anything that can be plugged into a USB cable such as your iPhone, tablet, or even a GoPro. One “filling” supplies power for up to 11 iPhones. Once depleted, the unit will recharge itself in the aforementioned 3 seconds.
Instead of using a battery, Kraftwerk opts for a fuel cell setup. In other words, it works by filling it with either standard camping gas or lighter gas. It only takes about three seconds to refuel the charger once you’ve used up the fuel. Because of its fuel cell setup, Kraftwerk avoids the main pitfall of portable battery chargers: battery charge deterioration. Of course, since its a fuel cell setup, safety is, understandably, a major concern. However, it’s apparently safe enough to be FDA-approved and you can even place it in carry-on luggage when you go on a plane ride.
Kraftwerk can handle up to 40g of gas, though the device itself weighs in at 160g. With a 40g fuel charge, Kraftwerk can charge an iPhone 11 times. Unfortunately, you’ll only find one USB port on Kraftwerk. What’s unknown is how fast Kraftwerk can charge devices. It can certainly withstand the elements, though.