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Monday, August 13, 2007 Novel Batteries Get a BoostGM plans to develop batteries with A123 Systems for its new electric vehicle. By Kevin Bullis
General Motors has announced it will work directly with A123 Systems, a start-up based in Watertown, MA, to develop batteries that are fine-tuned for the Chevrolet Volt, an electric vehicle scheduled for production in 2010 or 2011. The new agreement between the companies is designed to speed the vehicle to market. The co-development deal is the latest in a series of announcements by the automaker indicating it is moving forward with plans for the Volt, an extremely fuel efficient hybrid. The Volt, first announced in January, will use batteries that can be recharged from a standard electrical outlet and is expected to get 40 miles on a single charge, eliminating trips to the gas station for average daily driving. While GM has not ruled out using batteries from another supplier, the agreement is a vote of confidence that A123's technology can meet the requirements for the vehicle, says Denise Gray, GM's director of hybrid energy storage devices. A123 uses a new lithium-ion chemistry that allows its batteries to be much lighter and more compact than the nickel metal hydride batteries in existing hybrids today, and safer than the conventional lithium ion batteries found in consumer electronics. In June GM announced that it is working with the South Korean company LG Chem, and its subsidiary Compact Power, based in Troy, MI, to make both battery packs and the individual cells inside them. They also signed an agreement with an LG Chem competitor, the Frankfurt, Germany-based Continental Automotive Systems, to develop battery packs. Continental had planned to use A123 as a subcontractor to supply the batteries for these packs. The new agreement puts A123 in direct contact with GM on the Volt project. At the end of 2005, A123 announced its first product, a cylindrical battery for power tools. For the Volt, A123 is shifting to a much bigger and flat, rather than cylindrical, battery cell that takes up significantly less space. Hundreds of these would be combined in a large pack, with control electronics and a cooling system, to power the Volt. A123 employees have begun testing the new cell. In one test, a prototype cell, a silvery slab about the size of three decks of cards placed side by side, was crushed from the side to demonstrate its abuse tolerance. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, which use a cobalt-oxide material that can overheat and cause laptops and cell phones to burst into flame, A123's batteries use a much more stable, and potentially cheaper, iron phosphate material. The crushed test battery showed no signs of overheating. Earlier this year GM had picked A123 Systems as a potential supplier of lithium-ion batteries for a new version of its Saturn Vue hybrid that can be recharged by plugging it in, giving it a 10 mile all-electric range. It could be on the roads as early as 2009. |
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An Electrifying Startup
04/22/2008
Comments
Jochen on 08/13/2007 at 3:24 AM
2
tsaidak on 08/13/2007 at 8:43 AM
5
Why would I want to swap out packs at a 40 mile range when I could recharge at home or at work in undere 5 hrs using a 110v line? Also, swapping out the packs would be labor intensive compared to pumping gasoline, and actually drive up the cost per mile quite a bit.
jpdemers on 08/13/2007 at 11:57 AM
31
An interesting option, if the battery pack indeed weighs only 100 lb, would be to double up the batteries. Increasing the range, while adding less than the weight of an adult passenger, might be worth the added expense to many potential customers.
Gaetano Marano on 08/14/2007 at 11:39 AM
55
I agree with the "battery swap" since already suggested in my July 23, 2007 "cellphoneCAR" article:
http://www.gaetanomarano.it/articles/033cellphoneCAR.html
and also posted comment in this Technology Review article:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19085/
it's a great idea to solve the main electric cars' problem: the (4+ hours) too long
recharge time
.
Jochen on 08/21/2007 at 5:38 AM
2
advill on 08/13/2007 at 5:37 AM
11
Are already in production with Valence, the SAPHION Li-Ph. line has standard lead-acid sizes.
I don´t know how this A123 people is going to avoid the 200 patents Valence has in the process...
asdar on 08/13/2007 at 9:49 AM
62
advill on 08/14/2007 at 9:12 AM
11
asdar on 08/13/2007 at 9:54 AM
62
Quote:
"The agreement with GM does not mean that A123 will be locked out of doing work with other automakers. The specific cell the two companies develop together will be co-owned--so both companies will have to negotiate for how it might be used, Gray says. That could include putting the pack in cars by other companies, Gray says, since "it's in everyone's interest to achieve economies of scale to drive down battery prices." A123 still retains control over its novel battery chemistry, however. Indeed A123 has had discussions with other automakers and its batteries are set to be used in hybrid buses starting in 2008."
End Quote:
First off it says that A123 is free to deal with who they want, but then comes the line that makes me nervous.
"The specific cell the two companies develop together will be co-owned--so both companies will have to negotiate for how it might be used, Gray says."
Negotiation rights sounds an awful lot like control to me.
I don't mind the idea of GM owning the tech, if they use it. I'm getting NiMh flashbacks from that line.
I hope that the Volt, and A123 are on the road soon.
cripdyke on 08/13/2007 at 4:54 PM
14
EHL68 on 08/20/2007 at 2:59 AM
1
Quote--
"...electrode chemistry, thickness, the type of electrolyte, and other aspects of the battery cell design..."
--End Quote
In truth though, it will likely come down to which side can produce documents on key developments toward the final product, and which side has the better patent lawyers!
Good luck, A123! And to GM--I'm truly looking forward to a Volt as my next car, should it arrive at the 2010 or -11 model year!