ORIGINAL: Kmot
HunkaJunk: Nowhere in the letter does it mention shipping by air. LiPo batteries are already banned from shipping by air I thought. I think the letter is meaning to say even ground shipment will be changed and these items will be classified as "explosives".
OK point taken, but again, virtually all other self oxidizing materials have special ground shipping requirements, HAZMAT rules apply to all of them. So why should Lithium batteries be exempted? "Explosives" as far as the DOT is concerned is a very loose term, gunpowder, primers, and loaded ammunition are just a few that come to mind. (even though none of these are technically explosives)
I am unaware of any attempt to "ban" Lithium batteries from ground shipment, but reclassifying them as explosives puts them in the same catagory as the above mentioned items, and therefore must be packaged by someone who is properly trained, and will likely add some cost to the end user, as the shipping charges will be more.
Another reason I take issue with the Tower Hobbies statement, is that these regulations would not be specific to LiPo "hobby batteries". Li-ion batteries (laptop batteries) are known more for exploding if the output is shorted than any other type of Lithium that I know of.