When long-haul truckers downshift into a truck stop at the end of the day, all they want to worry about is what to eat and how long they can sleep.

Firefly Energy can't help them to choose between the Denver omelette and the short stack, but they can make sure Trucker Dan will sleep more soundly. The company has developed a new battery, called the Oasis Group 31, that will last long enough to keep the heat on and comply with tougher state idling restrictions.

In the past, truck drivers have idled their engines to keep things comfy in their sleeper cabs, but new regulations in many states have reduced this usage to 5 minutes per hour. The Oasis will keep the Hank Williams twanging while cutting down on fuel use (idling a big rig eats up about a gallon of diesel an hour).

Firefly's battery, called the Oasis (as full of energy as the band of the same name, but not so British and grating), is basically just a modded lead-acid battery. To squeeze gains like longer run times and a faster recharge, the acid heads ditched the traditional negative lead electrode, replacing it with a microfoam one that dramatically increases the surface area - and overall performance - between the electrolyte and the electrodes. And the new system is less vulnerable to corrosion, lighter, and works better in extreme temperatures.

On the environmental side, Firefly says the Oasis is easier to recycle than newer lithium ion or nickel metal hydride batteries, since the infrastructure already exists. And  they also use less lead than traditional lead-acids and last longer, resulting in fewer junked batteries and, hopefully, less pollution.

I guess lead batteries aren't dead yet.

The first four Firefly batteries were installed in a big rig earlier this week. If all goes well, a whole convoy of Oasis-charged trucks could be on the road by mid-2009. Maybe I can wire one of these up to my laptop.