Ba eries

International
Issue 75 Winter 2010

The great CO2 swindle:

time to dispel the myth
Why lithium batteries can
never provide that solution

Cutting edge lithium:

the greatest and the
best in the business

BCI fights back with

campaign to highlight
the strengths of lead

Valiant Firefly hits

the ropes, despite
sure-fire product

Bringing the industry together

www.batteriesinternational.com
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CONTENTS
THE FIRST GREAT FRAUD OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM 4
Media hype over the emission-free electric vehicle — courtesy of the next generation of Lithium-ion battery is
just that. Hype. The emissions are generated at the power station. Battery industry pundit John Petersen chews
through the numbers to show that if an entire fleet of plug in cars is deployed using our predicted Lithium ion
manufacturing capability the CO2 savings would be negligible. Just five hours of oil pumping.

EDITORIAL 2
PEOPLE NEWS 7 Lithium technology and
chemistry are great but
Oberholz appointed Nexeon non-executive director ahead of expansion plans • Atraverda appoints Greig as let’s not believe the hype 2
start-up firm moves into lead acid battery production • First EV developer Bob Purcell joins Li-ion maker Boston-
Power • ZBB Energy appoints new CEO

NEWS 13
Firefly files for bankruptcy • Exide opens global technology centre • Rechargeable network for lead acid
scooters in India • Saft provides 3MW back-up power • Solar power Suniva links up with GS Yuasa • MTS,
Artheon, Northstar form JV in India • A123 Systems takes stake in Fisker • Exide Industries raises $120m for
capex, R&D • ECOtality to tap part of $1.5 billion credit line for charging system • Cymbet secures $31m in
private financing • Valence Technology, Bénéteau sign exclusive hybrid yacht supply agreement •Events diary

NEWS FEATURE: BCI LEAD INITIATIVE 21

Lead, lead, glorious lead.
The BCI has launched an initiative designed to re-educate politicians and the public about the nature of lead acid BCI extols its joys in new
batteries. It’s well needed. The media yap about new lithium chemistries ignores the heartland of the industry. initiative 21

NEW PRODUCT NEWS 26

IIoxus launches smaller EDLCs • Exide Technologies launch new range of monobloc batteries • AEG Power
Solutions launch UPS product to incorporate renewables

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE 27
UPS market ends 2009 on a higher note

ALL THINGS LITHIUM 30

Chasing the lithium dream
Chasing the dream: the
The race to find the winning chemistry for the next generation of electric vehicles is on. Lynnda Greene explores
lithium chemistry and
six possible chemistries and the companies that are looking to become their champion.
company primer 30
View from the drawing board
A huge amount of funding is going on in the US to allow the industry to catch-up with foreign technology.

CONFERENCE IN PRINT 47
Patent power is a survival skill
Unprecedented volumes of money being invested in the US doesn’t mean that its batteries industry will be a
global winner.
Four wheels good, two wheels better
The debate over the viability of electric vehicles has obscured the rise of the electric two-wheeler.
Less pedal for the metal.
UNSUNG HEROES 54 Battery prospects for two
Lew Urry, the father of the alkaline battery wheelers 51
Like fibre-optic cable and the microchip, the world would be a much different place without the alkaline battery.

Publisher: Don Cleary, publisher@batteriesinternational.com, +44 (0) 1580 712 323

Editor: Michael Halls, mhalls@batteriesinternational.com, +44 (0) 1798 839 338
Advertising manager Americas: JanMcNutt, Jan McNutt, jmcnutt.batteriesintl@gmail.com +1 303 777 7114
Americas editor: Lynnda Greene, lgreene@batteriesinternational.com, +1 314 727-3893
Subscriptions manager: Paula Mills, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com +44 (0) 1403 741 844
Assistant editor: Philip Moorcroft Staff reporters: Sakshi Ojha, Michael Bow
Production/design: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com
International advertising representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com
The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorised translation or
reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322 (c) 2009 Mustard Seed Publishing, Unsung hero: Lew Urry,
UK company no: 5976361. Printed in the UK via ThisismethodUK father of the alkaline
battery (and bunny) 54

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 1

EDITORIAL

Time to pop the

CO2 free car myth
A challenge. Are the numbers in our cover story Nissan’s Leaf, that the CO2 reduction would be
correct? the equivalent of saving about five hours of oil
production.
If we’re wrong, we’ll eat our hat.
Just five hours.
But we don’t think that’s likely. It’s worth
spending some time with our figures because their That’s not a lot of CO2 saving for an entire fleet
conclusion is quite remarkable. We reckon an of next generation cars driving next generation
enormous con trick is being played on the world. batteries in the world.
The Brave New Electric Car World of the future Putting it all together, this means that all the guff
looks, according to numbers we can all put about the shiny new planet brought in by electric
through a calculator, as if it will have a minimal cars is just that.
impact on the environment.
Simply guff.
Those at the heart of our industry have known
that for years. But that’s not what the media has
been saying for the a decade and more. Cutting edge lithium
But don’t mistake our revelations as being the
Despite the hype, those levels of CO2 won’t editorial line of our magazine. We’re not anti-
shrink because of them — the impact of the next lithium batteries in the slightest.
generation of electric vehicles powered by our
batteries on the air we breathe will be minimal. Nor are we — in the slightest — against electric
Our global greenhouse — at least if you believe in vehicles.
the idea — will just get hotter. (Or, if you don’t, Some of the most extraordinary research in
those levels of that irritating CO2 will make more the field of developing low-weight, high-power
yet more irritating headlines.) batteries has been investigating the potential of
Our correspondent for this issue, John Petersen, lithium batteries for a decade.
estimates that, if the entire battery production of It’s truly exciting — see our in-depth feature in
the world was diverted to making batteries for this issue looking at the major chemistries and the
the next generation of electric vehicles, such as major players.

BATTERIES INTERNATIONAL GUIDE 2010

Issue 6 •
January 2010

GS
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2 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

EDITORIAL
All the leading lead acid battery
manufacturers are exploring where
this may go to next.

Nor do we do the simple partisan

knee-jerk thing that lead is best, as
a few reactionary elements within
our business do.

But yes, we think that lead

acid batteries are excellent for
delivering reliable power at a
reasonable price for larger scale
applications. As yet lithium ion
batteries have yet to prove when
being deployed in larger size.

But that’s no reason to assume

lithium won’t be the master
chemistry of the future. That said,
for the moment, we believe it’s
better to talk about what energy
storage in batteries can do than
talk about a promised land of
incredible batteries. Especially one
which we’re being told is just around the corner.
And that’s the point of our cover story.
A whole generation is being sold a myth about
the batteries we will be manufacturing in just
a few years’ time. As John Petersen rightly
observes, “we’re being sold the sizzle and not the
steak”.
Industry disservice
We believe that the soft, credulous journalism
of, say, sports car writers in many of the
weekend papers and elsewhere gabbling about
an emissionless car is doing the whole battery
industry a disservice.
package, the ARRA, aimed at stimulating large
swathes of the country’s technology — and
which a large chunk of money is going to battery
developers — only included two advanced lead
firms.
One direct result of this has been the failure of
Firefly Energy, an otherwise excellent advanced
lead battery firm, that was denied federal support
despite its proven technology and potential.
Here’s another fear of too much hype. And that’s
that we start to believe the myths ourselves.
Are we about to have a glut of lithium batteries
destined for electrical vehicles that the public
won’t buy?

Talk about a new generation of automobile BCI initiative

batteries that will power a new super-breed of Partly because of this desire to align ourselves
electric cars without releasing those pesky CO2 with the forces of reason, we’re fully behind
emissions again downgrades what we have Battery Council International’s recent initiative to
already. promote lead.

The trouble is that if we don’t set the record right
soon, we’ll all suffer in the end.
Just look at public perceptions. Everyone ‘knows’
that lead is incredibly poisonous and battery
manufacturers are polluting the planet. The fact
recycling figures prove the opposite doesn’t seem
to matter.
The BCI initiative is worth commenting on in
that the media has hijacked and misrepresented
the issues involved — the emission-less car being
a case in point — leading to wildly inaccurate
perceptions of the industry
It’s time to set the record right.

This damage of perceptions in the US has already Mike Halls, editor

editor@batteriesinternational.com
happened. A more or less enlightened financial

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 3

COVER STORY

Lawyer, certified public account and well known battery industry pundit
John Petersen, shows that the venerable Prius-class hybrid is at least five
times more effective at reducing global gasoline consumption than its plug-in
cousins. Are batteries too valuable to waste on plug-in vehicles?

The first great fraud of

the new millennium
PT Barnum would have been proud.
While hype-masters loudly proclaim
that plug in cars will save the planet by
slashing oil consumption and CO2 emis-
sions, the numbers tell a different story;
that plug-ins are all sizzle and no steak.
The result is the industrial equivalent of
a snipe hunt, a wild goose chase based
on flawed assumptions.
Let me explain how I reached this con-
clusion. On December 31, 2009 Forbes
published an opinion piece titled System
Overload that questioned whether the
battery industry was overbuilding glo-
bal manufacturing capacity. The third
paragraph noted:
“By 2015 the new factories will have
the global capacity to produce 36
million kilowatt-hours of battery
capacity, enough to supply 15 million
hybrid vehicles, or 1.5 million fully
electric cars, says Deutsche Bank.”
While the article went on to question
whether there would be buyers for all
those batteries, the capacity estimate got
me thinking: “In a world that wants to
save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions, but
can only make 36 million kWh of bat-
teries per year, what is the highest and
best use for the batteries?”
I hate unanswered questions. So I fired
up my computer and went to work.
Within a few minutes, I found myself
wondering whether anybody in Brussels
or Washington DC owns a calculator
and understands grade school math.
The calculations were simple but the
answers were amazing — at least to me.
The sweet and simple summary is that
the venerable Prius-class hybrid is five
to six times more effective at reducing
global gasoline consumption than its
plug-in cousins and, in the US, it's seven
to 10 times more effective at reducing
CO2 emissions.
In other words, plug-in vehicles are
not the effective albeit expensive sav-
4 Batteries International Winter 2010
REASONING AND METHODOLOGY
As the first step I calculated of the number of electric-assist/electric-drive
vehicles that could be built using 36 million kWh of batteries.
Battery production capacity and possible uses
Global battery manufacturing capacity 36,000,000
(2015 Deutsche Bank estimate in kWh)
Maximum number of EV battery packs 1,500,000
(24 kWh battery pack for Nissan Leaf)
Maximum number of PHEV battery packs 2,250,000
(16 kWh battery pack for GM Volt)
Maximum number of HEV battery packs 24,000,000
(1.5 kWh battery pack for Toyota Prius)
As the second step I calculated the power plant-to-wheel CO2 emissions for
an electric drive vehicle that gets 4 miles per kWh and is plugged into an electric
grid that’s equivalent to the U.S. national average.
C02 emmissions per gallon of gasoline equivalent
Annual CO2 emissions from electricity generation 2,433.4
(million metric tons)
Annual electricity generation 4,157.0
(billion kWh)
Kilograms of CO2 per kWh 0.6
Typical electric drive range per kWh 4.0
kWh required for 30 mile electric drive range 7.5
Kilograms of CO2 per gallon of gasoline equivalent 4.4
Pounds of CO2 per gallon of gasoline equivalent 9.7
As the third step I calculated the baseline fuel consumption and well-to-wheel
CO2 emissions for a conventional car that has a fuel efficiency of 30 mpg and
is driven 12,000 miles per year.
Baseline performance of internal combustion engine
Gasoline used CO2 emissions
(US gallons) (Pounds)
Gasoline required for 12,000 miles of travel 400
Well-to-wheel CO2 emissions per gallon 25.35
C02 Emissions Per Year 10,140
www.batteriesinternational.com
COVER STORY
iours of the planet that have been sold
to credulous reporters and intellectually
lazy regulators. They're unconscionable
waste masquerading as conservation.
I’m agnostic when it comes to the rela-
tionship between CO2 emissions and
global warming. I simply don’t know
enough to have a firm conviction.
I’m not the least bit agnostic when
it comes to the fact that six billion
people on this planet want a small
piece of the lifestyle that 500 million
of us have and take for granted.
For all of recorded history, the poor
toiled in ignorance and didn’t know that
there was more to life than subsistence.
Thanks to information and communi-
cations technology, the cat’s out of the

Put it all together

As the fourth step I calculated the baseline fuel consumption and CO2 emis-
sions for a Prius-class HEV, a Volt-class PHEV and a Leaf-class EV assuming and plug-ins will
a fuel efficiency of 50 mpg, a 25% ICE utilization for the Volt-class PHEV, and save less than five
total travel distance of 12,000 miles per year.
hours of oil production
Baseline performance of electric alternatives and CO2 emissions
Gasoline used CO2 emissions
(US gallons) (Pounds) per year.
Nissan Leaf class electric vehicle
12,000 electric drive miles 0 3,872 bag and fully half of the world’s poor
know that there is something better. The
GM Volt class plug-in electric vehicle
9,000 electric drive miles 0 2,904 biggest challenge of this century will be
3,000 gasoline drive miles (50 mpg) 60 1,521 making room at the table for six billion
Annual total 60 4,425 new consumers.
Accomplishing that without hor-
Toyota Prius class hybrid electric vehicle
12,000 gasoline drive miles (50 mpg) 240 6,084 rific environmental consequences and
catastrophic conflict requires relevant
scale solutions to persistent shortages of
As the fifth step I calculated the annual per vehicle fuel savings and CO2 emis- water, food, energy and every commod-
sions reduction for each type of vehicle. ity known to man.
Using 100% of the forecast global bat-
Single vehicle fuel savings and emissions reductions tery production capacity to make plug-
Gasoline saved CO2 reduction in vehicles will save less than five hours
(US gallons) (Pounds) of oil production and CO2 emissions per
Nissan Leaf class electric vehicle 400 6,268 year. I can’t see how any thinking man
GM Volt class plug-in electric vehicle 340 5,715 would consider that scale sufficiently
relevant to justify the plunder of far
Toyota Prius class hybrid electric vehicle 160 4,056 scarcer mineral resources.
In my opinion, the plug-in vehicle
As the sixth and final step I calculated the global fuel savings and CO2 emis- industry is perpetrating the first great
sions reduction for each fleet of vehicles that could be built using 36 million fraud of the new millennium by using
kWh of batteries. one-on-one vehicle comparisons instead
of fleet comparisons.
Annual savings for global vehicle fleet Yes, indeed PT Barnum would have
Gasoline saved CO2 reduction been proud. ■
(million gallons) (million pounds)
1.5 million Nissan Leaf class electric vehicles 600 9,403
2.25 million GM Volt class plug-in electric vehicles 765 12,859
24 million Toyota Prius class hybrid electric vehicle 3,840 97,344

Net impact on global oil consumption

Barrels per day 85,100,000
Barrels per hour 3,545,833
Gallons per hour (42 gallons per barrel) 148,925,000
Hours of global oil production saved annually by plug-ins 4.58

John L Petersen, is a US lawyer

Net impact on global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels
based in Switzerland who works
Metric tons per year 9,000,000,000 as a partner in the law firm of
Metric tons per day 24,657,534 Fefer Petersen & Cie and repre-
Metric tons per hour 1,027,397 sents North American, European
Pounds per hour 2,265,023,219 and Asian clients, principally in
Hours of global C02 emissions saved annually by plug-ins 4.91 the energy and alternative energy
sectors. More of his thoughts can
be found on http://seekingalpha.
I told you the answers were amazing! com/author/john-petersen

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 5

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PEOPLE NEWS

Atraverda appoints Greig

as start-up firm moves into
lead acid battery production
Atraverda, the UK alternative lead acid
battery company, has appointed Martin
Greig as its new operations manager.
Greig will be responsible for setting
up manufacturing control systems at
Atraverda’s factory in Abertillery in
Wales, where it continues its progress
to deliver what the firm claims is the
world’s first commercially viable bi-
polar lead-acid battery.
Greig told Batteries International
that his objectives for his first year
at Atraverda will be focussed around
“creating a volume production line.
This will involve close liaison with the
development engineers.”
Atraverda is Greig’s third venture
capital project. “Anybody working in
a venture capital backed start-up situa-
tion must be prepared to deliver results
in a fast moving environment, with the
ability to handle pressure and adhere to Greig: diverse experience from defence electronics to traditional metal bashing
tight deadlines.
“The Atraverda process does not lend producer Flowserve, where he was ment of quality systems. “Hopefully,
itself to standard equipment sets nor is plant manager. He has over 15 years’ the company will be looking towards
it that close to battery technologies that experience in overseeing and manag- foreign markets and new production
you are familiar with. The Atraverda ing production plants for a number of sites.”
bipolar battery delivers higher energy companies, including Siemens, electro- One of the major challenges facing
density that allows electrified vehi- luminescent display and keypad manu- Greig in his role as operations manager,
cles to travel longer distances before facturer Pelikon, and at NatWest’s credit as the firm moves into production mode,
recharging. card production facility. is to phase out the development culture
“The bipolar battery technology is Greig describes his background in and impress upon everybody a sense
greener than conventional lead acid terms of product and industry as being of urgency. “This will test my human
batteries due to the reduced number of “diverse, ranging from defence micro- resource management skills. If you want
battery components and a more efficient electronics to digital printing, from to succeed in this environment you need
battery manufacturing process. So we semiconductors to traditional metal to display all the production tools. This
will have to be inventive to achieve our bashing.” includes engineering knowledge, lean
desired cost model.” Greig says his job will be concerned manufacturing skills, project manage-
Greig joins from pump and valve with yield protection and the develop- ment and the ability to enthuse.” ■

ize fuel cell combined heat

Intelligent Energy appoints and power systems, and The
Suzuki Motor Corporation.

Hunton to head sales The company recently

Intelligent Energy, the UK
fuel cell firm, has appointed
Steve Hunton as group
sales director. Hunton joins
from Lotus Engineering,
where he worked for more
than 20 years. Hunton has
been responsible for Lotus
Engineering sales and market-
ing activities since 2004 and
has been in charge of sales
teams around the world.
Henri Winand, chief execu-
tive at Intelligent Energy said:
“High levels of growth in
2009, followed by increas-
ing demand from partners,
means that Intelligent Energy
has now reached a position
in which we can make key
strategic additions to the
company.”
Intelligent Energy develops
a range of fuel cell and hydro-
gen generation technologies.
Current partners and cus-
tomers include Scottish and
Southern Energy, with which
the company has formed a
joint venture to commercial-
developed the world’s first
hydrogen fuel cell motor-
bike and supplied the fuel
cell system to Boeing, which
powered the world’s first
manned fuel cell aircraft. The
company has also recently
supplied Airbus with a multi-
functional fuel cell auxiliary
power unit aimed at on-
board power in future com-
mercial airliners. ■

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 7

PEOPLE NEWS

Oberholz joins Nexeon board

ahead of expansion plans
Alfred Oberholz has been appointed
non-executive director of Nexeon, the
UK silicon anode lithium-ion battery
technology firm. His appointment is
timed to coincide with the next phase
of development of the start-up firm
which has completed several rounds of
funding, including raising £10 million
last year.
Nexeon was spun out from Imperial
Innovations in 2005.
“We are gearing up to enter the market
and go into a semi-commercial mode,”
Oberholz told Batteries International.
“Hopefully, we will be successful in
having the first contracts with our cus-
tomers-to-be signed this year.”
Scott Brown, the chief executive
of Nexeon, said: “Oberholz’s bat-
tery supply chain knowledge and his
expertise in identifying the right stra-
tegic partner for the firm will benefit
us as we move from technology dem-
onstration to commercial discussions
with manufacturers and material sup-
ply partners.”
The commercial thinking here is that
alliances at all stages in the value-added
chain allow for faster commercializa-
tion of scientific knowledge through
marketable products and technologies.
Oberholz, who will be 58 this year,
studied chemistry in Aachen, where he
earned his doctorate in 1980 before
joining the chemical company Hüls.
He was appointed a board member of
Hüls in 1996.
Between 1999 and 2006 he was
involved in three separate mergers
at the end of which he was chief
technology officer at Evonik Degussa
and head of its research arm. In this
position he oversaw 35 R&D sites
and had some 2,000 staff reporting
to him worldwide. As part of this he
was responsible for deploying Eu4bn
of research and development across
western Europe, the US, China, India
and Japan.
Oberholz said: “In my career, the
Oberholz: hired to help Nexeon move to
commercialization stage
one thing that stands out is that I
have been able to bring innovations
into market inventions by, for exam-
ple, setting up Degussa’s ‘Science to
Business’ Centres, bringing scientists,
researchers and academia under one
roof to bring products in time to the
market.”
Nexeon’s technology is based on
the use of silicon anodes in lithium-
ion batteries instead of the carbon-
based anodes used today. This allows
a greater charge to be stored in the
battery, and longer lifetime between
charges.
This should allow batteries with
significantly higher energy density
to be developed — leading to the
much sought after benefits of longer
operating times and brighter screens
for laptops and smart phones, and
more powerful and higher perform-
ance cordless tools. Benefits extend
to automotive manufacturers who
see the potential for higher battery
capacity and power to weight ratio.
Being at the “brink of bringing prod-
ucts from the pilot to the commercial
stage” as Oberholz describes it, is
what he finds exciting. “In addition,
if a company changes its operations
from being predominantly R&D to
production, it is also an important
challenge to change the mentality of
people involved.”
Brown envisages three waves of the
adoption of commercialization for
Nexeon. The first will be for consumer
electric applications. “These require
high capacity and a good cycle life.
We are currently engaged in sampling
activity and if evaluations go well,
we should have partners in 12-24
months.”
The second round will involve tar-
geting automotive capacity, cycle life
and a good rate performance to opti-
mise technology, by looking at cell
design and anode design itself. The
final wave of commercialization for
Nexeon will involve longer cycle Off
Grid Energy Storage.
“This high capacity energy storage
(renewable) device will be the next
stage of the use of batteries based on
our technology,” he says.
“I have studied for 28 years, worked
in chemical industry for 28 years, and
am now rather picky as to what I
want to be involved with, so I would
hopefully be putting my time for the
next 28 years into something I find
challenging.”
Oberholz sits on the supervisory
boards of the University of Aachen, is
the president of the Scientific Society
DECHEMA and has a seat in the
supervisory board of the biotech com-
pany DIREVO.
Nexeon plans to license its technol-
ogy and says it is “in discussions with
a number of major corporations in
the global battery industry”. Nexeon
has begun producing samples to these
companies for evaluation. ■

Smart grid chief executive joins USGBC

Mark MacCracken, the
chief executive of US energy
storage and smart grid firm
Calmac has been appointed
as chair-elect of the US Green
Building Council (USGBC)
board of directors for 2010.
In 2009, MacCracken was
elected to serve a second
three year term as director
in the energy services seat of
the USGBC board.
MacCracken will serve as
vice chair in 2010 along-
side chair Tim Cole and
immediate past chair Gail
Vittori.
The chair, chair-elect and
immediate past chair each
serve one-year terms that
total three years of leader-
ship, whereas the treasurer
and secretary each serve
two-year terms. ■

8 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

PEOPLE NEWS

EV-1 developer Purcell joins

Li-ion maker Boston-Power
Robert Purcell is to become a direc-
tor of Boston-Power, the US lithium
ion battery manufacturer. Purcell
has some 30 years’ experience in
the automotive industry, starting in
1981 in the finance department at
General Motors’ Pontiac Division;
subsequently he took a leading role
in the development of electric vehicles
and worked in a number of senior
positions in GM including executive
director of North America Vehicle
Innovation Programs.
From 1994 to 2002, Purcell headed
the GM Advanced Technology Vehicles
Group. GM ATV was responsible for
the development and production of
the GM EV-1, the world’s first mod-
ern electric vehicle, which went into
production in 1996. His organization
also developed and produced the S-10
Electric Truck and developed the GM
Precept Hybrid Vehicle, which was
part of US president Bill Clinton’s
Partnership for a New Generation of
Vehicles programme.
Many of the technologies pioneered
at GM ATV are still widely used today
throughout the industry in electric,
hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. In addition
to his responsibilities at GM ATV, he
also was chairman of the GM-Ovonic
Advanced Battery Joint Venture.
“As a pioneer in the electrifica-
tion of transportation, Purcell brings
a perfect combination of invaluable
insights, real-world experiences, and
an established, international execu-
tive network to our company,” said
Christina Lampe-Onnerud, the chief
executive and founder of Boston-
Power.
On leaving GM in 2008 Purcell
established Purcell & Associates,
an advisory group specializing in
automotive and alternative energy
investment projects. His clients have
included companies ranging from
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a
Berkshire Hathaway Company, to
EDC Automotive, an emerging leader
in automotive thermal management
systems.
Boston-Power is working with Saab,
now owned by Spyker, to develop a
niche brand for the electric car mar-
ket. The joint venture project will
allow the battery maker to further Purcell: new director of Boston-Power
develop the batteries application in with extensive EV experience
electric vehicles.
The project is supported by a con- Venture Partners and based in Boston.
sortium that includes the Swedish gov- Separately, Boston-Power received
ernment, and is intending to make 100 the 2010 Technology Pioneer
vehicles by 2010 Award at the 40th World Economic
Boston Power was founded in Forum Annual Meeting at Davos in
2005 and owns over 100 filed pat- Switzerland. The award recognizes
ents. The company has raised $125m the most innovative start-ups from
and is backed by Foundation Asset around the world that could have a
Management, Oak Investment Partners, critical impact on the future of busi-
Venrock, GGV Capital and Gabriel ness and society. ■

Batteries International is growing

We are pleased to announce
two new appointments to
our staff.
The first is Jan McNutt
who has joined us as our
advertising manager for
North America. Jan is
well known in the bat-
tery world — you may
have met her at shows
or through her marketing
emails in the past where
she used to handle adver-
tising for BEST magazine.
She has not only a solid
understanding of the
challenges that face the
energy storage industry
but a lively awareness of
the need to maintain a
high profile as we strug-
gle out of the economic and the companies that page 30 for her in-depth
downturn. are developing them. Her analysis under the strap:
Also from that magazine overview we believe is All things lithium — the
we are pleased to welcome essential reading — go to primer. ■
Lynnda Greene to our edi-
torial team as our North
American correspondent.
Lynnda has written for
almost two years on bat-
tery matters and in addi-
tion to her regular news
and feature work was a
regular columnist in BEST
where she used to write
Greene Shoots.
On her first assignment
for Batteries International
we asked her to provide
an overview of the vari-
ous lithium chemistries
that are being deployed Lynnda Greene Jan McNutt

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 9

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PEOPLE NEWS

ZBB Energy appoints new CEO

ZBB Energy Corporation appointed
Eric Apfelbach as its president and
CEO in January. His appointment,
given his experience with previous
start-up firms, signals that the com-
pany will be looking to aggressively
expand its operations through the
injection of various financing rounds.
Most recently, Apfelbach founded
Virent Energy Systems, an 80 person
catalytic biofuels company, where,
as president and CEO, he led the
company through multiple financings,
defined the company’s market strat-
egy, and secured the company’s first
customers.
Apfelbach said: “The distributed
renewable energy industry cannot
scale without cost effective energy
storage and power management solu-
tions. I believe ZBB’s products will
address these needs.”
Some immediate management
changes followed Apfelbach’s appoint-
ment. In early February the firm
announced that its chief operating
officer, Steven Seeker, was retiring on
June 30 and that Scott Scampini, exec-
utive vice president and chief finan-
cial officer would also become EVP
operations. Seeker, who joined ZBB in
2006, goes on a paid leave of absence
till his retirement.
Additionally, Kevin Dennis has been
promoted to the position of vice presi-
dent systems engineering expanding
his present position as vice president
of sales and marketing.
Apfelbach has a long experience
of getting start up firms moving.
Before Virent, Apfelbach co-founded
Alfalight, where as president and CEO,
he grew the high power diode laser
company from zero to 85 employees
in two years and led the company
through multiple financings.
Before Alfalight, he was vice presi-
dent of global sales and marketing at
NASDAQ-listed Planar Systems, with
responsibility for the LCD division.
Apfelbach began his career working
as an engineer in the global semi-
conductor industry, rising to a sen-
ior management position at semicon-
ductor equipment company, Applied
Materials. He has also held directo-
rial positions at Graphene Solutions,
StudyBlue and National Electrostatics
Corporation (NEC) and in 2006, was
elected to the board of the Wisconsin
Technology Council.
ZBB has awarded what it calls “two
inducement option grants” to secure
Apfelbach. The first is an option to buy
400,000 shares which vests as to one-
third of the shares in January 2011.
The second is an option for 100,000
shares of ZBB common stock, which
vests in two equal installments based
on the achievement of performance
targets in June 2010 and December
2010.
ZBB Energy Corporation says it pro-
vides “clean energy storage solutions
based on proprietary zinc recharge-
able energy storage technology that
addresses requirements in multiple
markets such as alternative energy
applications, large electrical utilities
and green residential and commercial
architecture”. ■

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12 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

NEWS
Firefly files for bankruptcy
Co-founder Mil Ovan leaves, 30 staff laid off
Firefly Energy, the US tech-
nology firm pioneering an
advanced lead acid battery
using a carbon graphite
foam to increase output
and longevity, went into
Chapter 7 bankruptcy in
mid-March.
The chief executive
at Firefly, Ed Williams,
released a statement say-
ing: “After 15 months of
unsuccessful attempts to
raise $20 million in equity
capital, in the midst of this
worldwide financial crisis,
funds that would have ena-
bled the company’s transi-
tion to full production and
commercial sales, the Firefly
Energy board has decided
to cease operations and vol-
untarily file for Chapter 7
bankruptcy.
“The Firefly staff would
like to sincerely thank the
Peoria community for their
tremendous support since
we started our venture seven
years ago. This decision was
very difficult, and while
regrettable, it is our only
viable option,” he said.
Ovan departure
In the two weeks before the
bankruptcy announcement,
Batteries International had
approached the firm seek-
ing comment on its status
and the position of its co-
founder Mil Ovan who had
left the firm in February.
Ovan replied to the maga-
zine on February 26 in an
email to say that he was
“no longer involved in day
to day operations”.
Ed Williams, chief execu-
tive, nor other staff at the
company could not be
“After 15 months of unsuccessful attempts to raise $20
million in equity capital, in the midst of this worldwide
financial crisis, … Firefly Energy board has decided to
cease operations”
www.batteriesinternational.com
reached for comment. The
public relations firm that
had represented Firefly
ceased working for the com-
pany last summer.
No comment was received
by Batteries International
as it went to press in mid-
March.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy,
under US law, involves the
sale of all the assets of the
company to its creditors.
Liquidation sale
Unlike the more internation-
ally well known Chapter 11
bankruptcy, whereby a firm
is given a stay of life to
re-organize before trading
again, this is a final step in
winding down operations.
It had been known since
last summer that the firm
had been in some forms of
difficulty — 15 of its 45
staff were laid off.
But, given the economic
downturn in 2009 when
manufacturing businesses
across the US were reduc-
ing their head count, the
lay-offs had not seemed
particularly out of the
normal.
Unfortunately Firefly
was passed over under last
year’s US government’s
stimulus package where the
focus had been — with two
exceptions — any-other-
chemistry-but-lead.
The US military had
signed various contracts
with Firefly in the low mil-
lions of dollars but these
were not enough to keep the
company afloat.
Certainly until early this
year, Firefly, had seemed to
be one of the new genera-
tion of potentially success-
ful firms with a product
that could revamp lead acid
battery chemistry and offer
a plausible alternative to the
widespread shift away from
lead acid batteries in cars.
According to battery
industry sources, the demise
of Firefly was mostly to
do with the difficult eco-
nomic climate — something
that particularly hurts start-
up companies which are
typically in need of a cash
cushion.
“You only have to look at
other companies to see that
the financial climate contin-
ues to be very tough,” says
one commentator. “You can
see this most clearly in their
valuations as per their share
prices. Axion, for example,
now a solidly established
company had a share price
that was heading for $3 last
September but that is now
hovering around $1.20. The
climate is even tougher for
companies that are still not
so firmly established.”
Battery price slump
Firefly also seems to have
had difficulties in pricing.
Its Oasis battery, which had
been developed for trucks,
was regarded as having the
potential to be a market
leader in terms of what it
could deliver but its price
was sharply undercut by the
slump in battery prices.
According to a local
paper writing in March
2009, Firefly Oasis batter-
ies had been installed in
nine local buses at a cost
of $450 each, replacing the
two standard bus batteries
which cost $292 in total,
but were to be cheaper in
the long run.
“The average bus battery
lasts 14 months while the
Firefly battery pays for itself
in six years. The following
six years are free,” said the
local bus manager. “These
batteries are expected to
last the life of the bus.”
Earlier Ovan said: “The
Oasis prototypes have done
very well in tests. Some have
called it the battery that
wouldn’t die. But the more
efficient battery comes at a
higher cost — and one that
the market isn’t supporting
right now.”
News of the bankruptcy
in mid-March provoked
an angry reception from
the local press, given that
the Illinois-based firm had
received some $6 million
in local government grants.
It had also received around
$7 million in US federal
funding.
Forgone salaries
Rumour had it, however,
that the senior management
at Firefly had forgone their
salaries since late last sum-
mer to keep the company
afloat.
Perhaps the most intrigu-
ing part of the asset sale as
Firefly is sold off, will be
who will obtain the intellec-
tual property for its carbon
graphite foam patents.
Mil Ovan has set up a
consultancy in Chicago.
Former colleagues say he
is an impressive figure and
should bounce back — not-
withstanding Firefly, he
has an extensive start-up
background behind him
(see Batteries International
passim).
Ovan has had more than
20 years’ experience intro-
ducing innovative high
technology products and
services and creating new
market categories. ■
Batteries International Winter 2010 13
NEWS
Rechargeable
network for
lead acid
scooters in
Electrotherm India Ltd,
an electric scooter man-
ufacturer, says it plans
to set up a network of
battery charging sta-
tions across the country
this year. The network
is designed to comple-
ment its 750W bike YO
Speed which comes with
a 33AH lead acid battery
and lasts for about two
years. The battery costs
around Rs8,000-10,000
($175-$225) and should
last for some 30,000km
The firm says it recently
introduced its new
‘Alpha-Weaver’ battery,
that increases the range
of electric bikes from 70
kilometers for one charge
to over 105km, as against
conventional lead acid
batteries. The charging
time drops from eight to
four hours.
“Compared to tradi-
tional lead acid batteries,
‘Alpha Weaver’ bipolar
batteries manufactured by
Electrotherm are lighter
as it contained pure lead-
tin electrodes, which offer
less corrosion,” said the
firm’s chairman Mukesh
Bhandari in January.
He said the batteries are
also lighter by six kilo-
grams compared to con-
ventional batteries.
EIL expects to nearly
double its sales to 30,000
to 40,000 units in the
coming fiscal year on the
back of the new launches
this year and the Alpha
Weaver’ technology-based
batteries it has developed
for its scooters.
Nearly, 95,000 electric
scooters were sold during
2008-09 and the industry
could grow by 10% this
financial year. Delhi is the
biggest market for electric
bikes for EIL (20% of
its net sales) followed by
West Bengal at 15%.
(See feature on two-
wheeler market on p 51.)
14 Batteries International Winter 2010
Exide opens new global
technology centre
Exide Technologies, the
US headquartered interna-
tional energy storage firm
opened its new global tech-
nology centre at the com-
pany’s Milton, Georgia
world headquarters in early
February.
The opening of the 20,000
square-foot technology
centre had been widely
anticipated.
Industry observers said it
was seen as a core compo-
nent in the continued repo-
sitioning of the company
brand — it wants to ensure
it is viewed as being at the
cutting edge of advanced
battery technologies.
It is one of three new or
upgraded engineering cen-
tres dedicated to develop-
Saft provides 3MW back
up power for Bonaire
Saft, the high-tech battery
firm, announced in February
that it was ready to deliver
and install a 3MW energy
storage system as a back
up to the world’s largest
hybrid wind and diesel
power project on the island
of Bonaire, off the coast of
Venezuela.
The Saft energy stor-
age system is to provide
backup power to ensure
that the main frequency of
the Bonaire grid remains
under constant control at
the steady 50Hz required
for grid stability.
If the frequency should
start to drop — which might
happen due either to a sud-
den increase in load or a loss
of generation — the battery
will supply just over 3MW
for well over two minutes.
This will allow sufficient
time for an additional diesel
generator to be started and
brought on line.
The Bonaire project is
ment of various forms of
stored energy.
Exide has laboratories
in Azuqueca, Spain and
Budingen, Germany.
Exie has also recruited
60 science and engineering
professionals — 40 posi-
tions in Milton alone — in
design, process engineering,
metals, carbons, ceramics
and polymers and other
disciplines.
The firm says that in lead-
acid chemistry alone, Exide
is exploring many areas,
including improvements to
Exide’s spiral-wound tech-
nology and lead-carbon
hybrid batteries; alternative
electrode compositions,
structures, substrates; and
improvements to gel tech-
the first to use Saft’s new
nickel-based SMRX block
battery design that com-
bines the high power of its
SRX cells with the compact
construction pioneered with
its MRX batteries.
The use of the SMRX bat-
teries has enabled Saft to
design a high performance
640V battery with a nom-
inal capacity of 1320AH
that can fit into three stand-
ard transportation contain-
ers for ease of installation
and commissioning.
The island’s main power
plant burnt down in 2004,
so until recently its annual
power consumption of
75,000MWh was met by
a set of rented container
(light-fuel) diesel generator
systems.
The new sophisticated
sustainable power scheme,
developed by the Dutch-
German consortium
EcoPower Bonaire BV on
behalf of Water en Energie
nology for solar power
energy storage.
“With this new facility
Exide is making important
strides and exploring some
exciting new dimensions
— developing new materi-
als, products and processes
to build a solid technol-
ogy foundation and infra-
structure for the future,”
said Paul Cheeseman, vice
president, global engineer-
ing and research of Exide
Technologies.
“Our team is working on
the advancement of multi-
ple technologies those that
may enable breakthrough
products or significant new
product platforms for imple-
mentation during the next
two to five years.” ■
Bedrijf Bonaire (WEB), the
state-run energy provider
in the Dutch Antilles, will
enable the entire island to
switch to renewable energy
supplies with 12 wind tur-
bines providing a total
of 11MW and a 14MW
biodiesel power plant.
The power supply serves a
local population of 14,500
people and around 100,000
holiday visitors a year.
“The Bonaire project is a
further example of the stead-
ily increasing recognition
that energy storage technol-
ogy will play a key role in
the successful delivery of
renewable energy schemes”,
said Xavier Delacroix, the
general manager of Saft’s
IBG division.
The battery system has
already been built by Saft
and is undergoing customer
acceptance tests in prepara-
tion for delivery to the site
in Bonaire in the first quar-
ter of 2010. ■
www.batteriesinternational.com
NEWS
Solar power firm Suniva plans
energy storage with GS Yuasa
US start-up firm Suniva is
to partner with GS Battery
(USA), the US arm of Japanese
battery manufacturer, GS
Yuasa Group to develop
solar-powered energy storage
systems.
The move is an important
tie up between the two firms
as it suggests that the eco-
nomic potential of linking
solar power and electrical
storage has real commercial
possibilities — possibili-
ties that are no longer the
dream of battery visionar-
ies or Sunday newspaper
journalists.
“One thing that will make
solar for many applications
much more reliable and
available is having that stor-
age capacity,” said a Suniva
spokesperson.
Being able to store renew-
able energy cost-efficiently,
rather than pipe it immedi-
ately into the power grid,
is an important milestone
in establishing the place of
renewable energy in national
A123 Systems to take stake in Fisker
Automotive, supply agreement
A123 Systems, the developer
and manufacturer of nano-
phosphate lithium ion batter-
ies and systems announced
in January it is to take a
stake in Fisker Automotive,
a new US carmaker.
It has also agreed a supply
agreement to provide battery
systems for the Fisker Karma
plug-in hybrid electric vehi-
cle (PHEV). The Karma is to
be launched towards the end
of the year.
“The combination of the
two firms makes logistic
sense in that the interests
of the two companies are
aligned so closely,” says
an industry observer. “We
should expect more of such
shareholder links in the
future.”
www.batteriesinternational.com
electricity systems. The col-
laboration between Suniva
and GS Battery will begin
with the first system using
30kW of Suniva’s solar mod-
ules and GSB’s battery tech-
nology at GS Battery’s head-
quarters in Georgia. This
solar array, which is designed
and engineered by Atlanta-
based solar integrator First
Century Energy, will also
be the first grid connected
energy-storing solar installa-
tion in Georgia.
Solar panels can charge
batteries faster and more
efficiently than the electrical
grid. Instead of the A/C cur-
rent from the grid, solar pan-
els provide a direct electrical
current straight to a battery,
so there is no loss of power in
the change of currents.
“Solar system owners that are able
to store their energy output are also
able to take advantage of many new
economic opportunities”
A123 said it plans to invest
up to $23 million in Fisker
Automotive’s current fund-
ing round to establish a stra-
tegic relationship with the
car company.
The investment would con-
sist of $13 million in cash
and $10 million in A123
common stock and would
be subject to the comple-
tion of certain terms and
conditions.
A123 will also collabo-
rate on Fisker’s Project Nina
platform, with the intent of
having A123 supply batter-
ies for that vehicle based
on meeting the automaker’s
performance and delivery
requirements.
Project Nina is expected to
launch in 2012.
“Solar system owners that
are able to store their energy
output are also able to take
advantage of many new eco-
nomic opportunities,” said
Yasuyuki Nakamura, presi-
dent of GS Battery. “Our
state of the art approach
allows customers to achieve
better returns on investment
with a more flexible and
profitable solar energy sup-
ply. We are excited about uti-
lizing Suniva’s high-powered
modules with our battery
technology.”
The firm raised $75 mil-
lion in 2009 through a
series C financing with
contributions from pri-
vate equity firm Warburg
Pincus, Apex Venture
Partners, New Enterprise
Associates, HIG Ventures
The multi-year agreement
means that A123 is the
selected battery system sup-
plier for the Fisker Karma.
A123 plans to manufacture
the cells and systems at its
Michigan facility with pro-
duction slated to commence
later this year.
The Fisker Karma is
expected to have a range of
50 full-electric miles on a
charge of A123’s lithium ion
battery system and a total
range of 300 miles with an
on-board generator turned
by a traditional but effi-
cient four-cylinder gasoline
engine. The Karma will have
403hp and is designed to go
from 0 to 60 mph in about
six seconds, reaching a top
speed of 125 mph. ■
and Advanced Equities.
It is unlikely to be regarded
as a start up much longer
given its rapid expansion. The
firm announced in March it
has been named “Renewable
Energy Exporter of the Year”
by the Export-Import Bank
of the United States.
Last year, Suniva exported
more than 90% of its prod-
uct to Asia and Europe. The
company has created more
than 150 new jobs and plans
to hire 500 additional staff at
a new manufacturing plant in
Michigan. ■
MTS, Artheon,
Northstar form
joint venture in
India
MTS Group USA,
Artheon Energy Group
India and NorthStar
Battery Company, a sub-
sidiary of the Swedish
firm, announced in mid-
February they had formed
a joint-venture named
the Artheon Battery
Company to manufac-
ture and market storage
batteries in India.
Artheon Battery
Company, located in
Nashik in the northwest
of Maharashtra state,
will manufacture a com-
plete line of lead-acid
batteries serving both the
domestic battery markets
in India and export mar-
kets around the world.
Officials at the compa-
nies say the new venture
will combine the manu-
facturing and technology
capabilities of NorthStar,
and the distribution and
service capabilities of
Artheon across India.
Together the companies
say they “aim to create a
leading-edge new player
in the India battery mar-
kets”. ■
Batteries International Winter 2010 15
NEWS
A123 Systems uses DoE grant
for manufacturing expansion
A123 Systems, the nano-
phosphate lithium ion bat-
teries and battery systems,
announced in January it
would be using $249 mil-
lion from its grant from the
US Department of Energy
for the further expansion
of its US manufacturing
capacity.
Specifically it says it has
UK awards Nexeon-Axeon-
St Andrews-Ricardo
consortium £1 million
A consortium of Nexeon, a
developer of silicon-based
anodes for lithium ion bat-
teries, advanced battery
manufacturer Axeon, the
University of St Andrews,
in Scotland and Ricardo, a
technology and engineering
provider to the automotive
and transport industries has
been awarded £1 million
($1.6 million) in funding
by the Technology Strategy
Board (TSB) in January.
The purpose is to develop
new battery chemistry for
higher energy densities and
to produce a prototype for
the plug-in electric vehicles
application.
Nexeon’s silicon battery
anode technology will be
used for automotive appli-
cations. Scott Brown, CEO
Novolyte Technologies wins
electrolyte development award
Novolyte Technologies and
the Great Lakes Energy
Institute at Case Western
Reserve University were
awarded $1.12 million in
December in the so-called
Ohio Third Frontier fund-
ing to develop and commer-
cialize advanced electrolyte
materials for next-genera-
tion Lithium-ion batteries.
Novolyte says it will
18 Batteries International Winter 2010
begun to make investments
in its 300,000 square foot
plant in Livonia, Michigan
to expand the final cell
assembly capacity by up to
200MW hours once fully
operational, inclusive of
the previously announced
80MW hour expansion.
These investments will
expand the company’s
of Nexeon told Batteries
International: “A lot of
people are working on sili-
con as a replacement anode
material for the existing
carbon anode in a Li-Ion
battery, as it has a much
higher capacity. But it also
has a poor cycle life, and
this is the limitation that
Nexeon has worked on and
overcome.”
The company claims to
have made high aspect
ratio silicon materials that
are more resilient to pul-
verisation and can survive
the repeated expansion
and contraction associated
with lithium insertion and
extraction cost effectively
and formulated such mate-
rials into working compos-
ite electrodes.
develop novel electrolytes
to improve the performance
and safety of these batteries,
which will expedite their
commercialization.
The firm says it is the only
North American company
manufacturing electrolytes
for lithium batteries and
markets its high-purity elec-
trolytes under the Purolyte
brand. ■ delivered to the grid during
global final cell assembly
capacity to over 360 MW
hours, with the incremental
200MW hours of capacity
expected to be ready for
production during the sec-
ond half of 2010.
The expansion in capacity
will provide A123 with the
overall ability to produce
over 320,000 hybrid vehi-
cles with 1.1 kWh battery
systems, or over 24,000
PHEVs with 15kWh bat-
tery systems per year. A123
says it will continue to eval-
uate additional investments
in production capacity in
response to anticipated cus-
tomer demand.
Axion Power gets P funds
for solar power storage
Axion Power International,
the developer of advanced
lead-carbon PbC batter-
ies, announced in February
that it had been awarded a
Pennsylvania state grant to
develop a renewable solar
energy storage system based
on its PbC PowerCube bat-
tery technology.
In the project, the Axion
PbC batteries will be cou-
pled with a UPS power con-
ditioner provided by Eaton
Corporation, and a solar
panel-to-electric conversion
system, as well as an elec-
tric vehicle charging sta-
tion, provided by Envision
Solar.
The $300,000 grant from
the Solar Energy Program of
the state’s Commonwealth
Financing Authority will
be used to demonstrate the
advanced energy storage
technology of PbC batter-
ies within a smart grid sys-
tem where power is gener-
ated from renewable energy
sources such as the sun or
wind, stored during slower,
overnight periods and then
David Vieau, chief exec-
utive of A123 Systems,
said, “The combination of
proceeds from our recent
IPO and funding support
from the DOE has pro-
vided A123 Systems with
the capital necessary to
execute against our expan-
sion programme.
“Examples of such activity
include today’s announce-
ment of a newly established
strategic relationship with
Fisker Automotive, our
recently signed joint ven-
ture with SAIC and expan-
sion of our electric grid
customer base just to name
a few.” ■
times of peak demand.
“Energy storage is a key
component in the opera-
tion of a Smart Grid system
and a perfect vehicle to
demonstrate the value of
our PbC battery products,”
said Axion chief executive
officer Thomas Granville.
“To best leverage the value
of renewable energy sources
like the sun and wind, the
energy gained during high
generation periods must be
stored in batteries like ours
and then discharged during
periods of high demand, or
peak load. Our PbC batter-
ies, which cycle longer and
are capable of recharging
both more rapidly and with
greater charge acceptance
when compared with other
advanced lead acid batter-
ies, will be commercial-
ized for these very storage
applications.”
The Axion grant was
the only storage project
approved as part of the
state’s Solar Energy
Program. The other 12
approved projects were for
solar generating systems. ■
www.batteriesinternational.com
NEWS
Exide Industries raises
$120m for capex, R&D
Exide Industries, India’s
largest battery manufacturer,
raised almost $120 million
in March through a qualified
institutional placement (QIP)
for capital expansion and
research and development.
QIPs are a capital raising
tool, mostly used in India,
whereby a listed company
can issue equity shares and
most other securities which
are later convertible to equity
shares to a qualified insti-
tutional buyer. The listing
ECOtality to tap part of $1.5 billion
credit line for charging system
US-based electric transpor-
tation and storage com-
pany ECOtality announced
in March that Shenzhen
Goch Investment Limited,
its joint venture partner in
China (ECOtality China), has
obtained a credit facility agree-
ment with China Construction
Bank for Rmb10 billion ($1.5
billion).
Shenzhen Goch Investment
has committed to providing
up to $300 million of the
credit facility to ECOtality
China for product financing
of ECOtality’s networked
electric vehicle (EV) charging
systems to utilities, govern-
ments, and major commercial
and retail clients in global
markets.
“This financing facility rep-
resents a critical achievement
in expanding ECOtality’s
position as the world leader in
EV charging solutions,” said
Jonathan Read, chief execu-
tive of ECOtality.
“The facility will provide
ECOtality China with the
ability to offer advanced net-
worked EV charging systems
at a low cost to its customers.
This means ECOtality can
immediately capitalize upon
substantial opportunities with
international governments,
utilities and vehicle custom-
www.batteriesinternational.com
procedures are less rigorous
which make this a speedy
way to raise capital
AK Mukherjee, director of
finance and chief financial
officer confirmed that 50
million shares in the firm had
been sold raising Rs5,395
million rupees equivalent to
$118.5 million which had
been bought by foreign insti-
tutional investors.
Asked if the capital raising
might be used to repay debt,
Mukherjee said the money
ers and will benefit consum-
ers by reducing the initial
cost of charging equipment
ownership, which, in turn,
will accelerate EV adoption
worldwide.
ECOtality China has access
to, subject to approval on a
project-by-project basis, the
credit facility controlled by
Shenzhen Goch and held by
China Construction Bank.
Utilizing the resources of
ECOtality China, ECOtality
will offer three to nine year
credit facilities to govern-
ments, utilities and vehicle
manufacturers in the US and
elsewhere to defray the initial
costs of EV charging systems
for consumers and encourage
early and widespread use of
ECOtality charging systems
and the associated network.
In September 2009,
ECOtality and Shenzhen
Goch Investments signed
definitive documents to estab-
lish two joint venture compa-
nies in China. Accordingly,
$10 million was provided by
Shenzhen Goch to establish
ECOtality China, a joint ven-
ture for the manufacture and
assembly of electric vehicle
charging equipment, and $5
million for a joint venture to
market and sell these charging
systems in China.
had already been allocated.
“We have got our capex
plan for the next two years
because we need the capac-
ity enhancement. We have
got some special projects
and areas where we have to
invest. Hence, this is the area
where we have to invest the
QIP money,” he said.
The dilution in the com-
pany’s stock was around 6%
but he said: “In the long
run it is not a dilution at all
because this money will be
Separately in mid-February,
the firm said it had applied
to list its common stock
on the NASDAQ Capital
Market. “The move is the
next logical step in the com-
pany’s future growth,” said
Read. “A NASDAQ audi-
ence will allow us to attract
additional investors and
Energy storage company
Cymbet secures $31m
Solid-state energy stor-
age company Cymbet
Corporation has completed
the final phase of its third
round of private equity
financing, raising $31m. The
company will use proceeds
from this financing round to
expand EnerChip sales and
marketing initiatives globally,
as well as add manufacturing
capacity for its eco-friendly,
EnerChip solid-state energy
storage devices in response to
Saft completes Eu120m share increase
For the record, French
battery developer Saft has
raised Eu120m in share
capital in December in an
initial public offering that
was 180% oversubscribed.
spend in for future long term
benefits of the company. So,
future valuations will defi-
nitely go up.”
Exide is the market leader
in lead acid battery for both
the auto and industrial seg-
ments. The company has
six manufacturing plants in
India. It has also a stake in a
lead smelter in the country.
Market rumours suggested
that Exide might be looking
for a further acquisition in
lead smelting.
In January Exide Industries,
declared a 132% rise in the
net profit to Rs130 crore
($28.6 million) for the third
quarter ending December 31.
The company’s net turnover
rose 16% to Rs913 crore. ■
improve shareholder value.”
In the US ECOtality’s
wholly-owned subsidiary,
eTec (Electric Transportation
Engineering Corporation) is
the project manager for The
EV Project, and will oversee
the largest-ever rollout of elec-
tric vehicle infrastructure in
the US. ■
rising customer demand.
Cymbet said its team has
moved its technology past
the development stage and
into commercialisation and
some of the money will be
used to increase its man-
ufacturing capacity. The
company said the device is
the world’s first solid-state
energy device with inte-
grated energy management,
enabling zero power wireless
sensor networks. ■
Saft says the proceeds will
primarily be used to finance
the group’s two industrial
projects for lithium-ion
battery production in the
US. ■
Batteries International Winter 2010 19
NEWS
Valence, Bénéteau sign hybrid
yacht battery supply agreement
Valence Technology, the international
energy system manufacturer, has
signed a multi-year supply agreement
with BJ Technologie, a subsidiary of
Bénéteau Group, the world’s largest
sailing yacht manufacturer, that could
be worth up to $45 million.
Under the multi-year agreement,
Valence Technology will serve as the
exclusive battery supplier for all new
Bénéteau Group hybrid-electric ves-
sels that incorporate the innovative
ZF Marine hybrid drive systems, a
feature that BJY has called a “major
technological breakthrough”.
Valence Technology will provide
modular, scalable energy storage sys-
tems that will be placed in new hybrid-
electric yachts, sailboats and motor-
boats for Bénéteau and Bénéteau
Group partners. Initial battery ship-
ments under this agreement should
start in the second half of the year.
Bénéteau Group forecasts that
orders to a value of $9 million will be
placed during the ensuing 12 months,
says Valence
“This is a revolution, not an evolu-
Reserve Power
Systems
Make y s
system
FAIL-S
HOPPECKE Batteries Inc.
1960 Old Cuthbert Road,
Suite 130, Cherry Hill,
NJ 08034 Tel:+1 856 616 0032
Fax:+1 856 616 0132
E-mail: info@hoppecke-us.com
www.hoppecke-us.com
20 Batteries International Winter 2010
tion, in marine propulsion, energy
generation, storage and manage-
ment,” said Robert Kanode, chief
executive of Valence Technology.
“Bénéteau is setting a new blue
water standard for cleaner sailing
yachts. Ports and harbours around
the world will be cleaner, quieter and
safer thanks to Valence Technology’s
safe, dynamic energy systems and the
forward thinking of companies like
Bénéteau Group, and ZF Marine, a
pioneer in electric pod drives.”
In a major departure from the way
boats and yachts have been manufac-
tured for decades, new hybrid-electric
sea-going vessels yield low to zero-
emissions, reduce fuel consumption
and require less maintenance than
traditional diesel marine propulsion
systems.
One of the most interesting features
of the hybrid drive system is the capa-
bility to recharge the advanced bat-
tery packs without the use of diesel
generators.
The ZF Marine hybrid drive system
creates kinetic energy when reversing
Since 1927, we have been deve-
loping and manufacturing high
quality, German engineered Lead-
Acid and Nickel-Cadmium battery
systems.
Our experience means that when
you suffer a power outage, we have
the technology to keep you safe! In
telecoms and IT, railway, power ge-
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cy standby power, whatever your ap-
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solution for your system that will give
you total peace of mind.
our
AFE!
the propeller while under sail, thereby
storing this regenerative energy back
into the batteries. During normal
operating conditions, a boat owner
may never need to start the diesel
engines to propel the boat and can
leave port, sail and return to port
completely powered by batteries or
clean wind.
Valence Technology energy storage
systems can power both propulsion
and auxiliary power systems without
affecting the vessel’s performance or
functionality.
“After intense testing and qualifi-
cation, it is Bénéteau’s intention to
launch this new blue water stand-
ard powered by Valence Technology’s
dynamic energy systems, thereby
leading the way in the development of
the newest and most environmentally
friendly sea vessels,” said Kanode.
“Looking beyond the hybrid engine
itself, this new system with energy
regeneration represents a genuine
revolution in terms of boating and
protecting the marine environment,”
said Bénéteau’s Gust. ■
EVENTS DIARY 2010
April
11-13 INFOBATT Canadian Energy Symposium,
Toronto, Canada
19-21 2nd World Lead Conference, Dusseldorf,
Germany
25-30 217th ECS Meeting, Vancouver, Canada
27-28 3rd China & Global Lithium Battery Industry
Summit 2010, Beijing, China
May
2-5 BCI’s 122nd Convention and Power Mart Trade
Fair, Renassaince Hotel, Austin, Texas, USA
17-19 BATTCON International Stationary Battery
Conference and Trade Show, Hollywood, Florida,
USA
17-21 10th International Advanced Automotive Battery
Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA
June
5-10 INTELLEC 2010, Orlando, Florida, USA
14-17 44th Power Sources Conference, Las Vegas,
USA
24-26 CIBF2010 (9th Annual China International
Battery Fair), Shenzhen, China
27-2 15th International Meeting on Lithium Batteries,
Montreal, Canada
September
15-17 15th International Congress for Battery
Recycling, Brussels, Belgium
21-24 12th European Lead Battery Conference,
Istanbul, Turkey
29-1 Batteries 2010, Cannes, France
October
19-20 Battery Power 2010, Dallas, Texas, USA
www.batteriesinternational.com
TIME TO PLUG LEAD
The Battery Council International has launched an initiative designed to
re-educate politicians and the public about the nature of lead acid batteries.
It’s about time. The media yap about new lithium chemistries ignores the
heartland of the industry, reports Wyn Jenkins.

Lead moves on to
the offensive
The biggest jolt to the US batteries Lead as a material received bad become even more tarnished.
industry in decades — the $2 bil- publicity over the years — some “This has been a great industry
lion stimulus package designed to deserved, some not. But as new in the past but at the moment the
enhance battery technology — was battery technologies claiming to be politicians, unfairly we believe, are
signed into law a year ago. cleaner and safer started to emerge, favouring the newer technologies,”
In one sense it was an enormous the reputation of an industry that says Maurice Desmarais, executive
shot in the arm to battery research- had for so long reliably delivered vice-president at the Battery Coun-
ers, developers and manufacturers. power to the world has started to cil International. “That was espe-
But in another it left enormous
swathes of the industry untouched.
The vast majority of the money
went to new battery technologies
such as lithium ion and nickel-metal
hydride. Almost all the recent stimulus
package announced by the Obama
Only two lead acid players received administration went to alternative
funding — representing a tiny amount technologies — some of which are
of the total sum delivered. completely unproven
The consensus in the lead acid
world seems to be that the big reason
the lead acid industry missed out —
despite its tried and tested technol-
ogy and proven job creation capacity
— was because of a negative senti-
ment among decision-makers in the
US towards this industry.
Part of the problem has been that
the batteries industry has histori-
cally been a self contained one — it
has quietly served the world’s energy
needs; enabling, for example, all the
facets of modern life from the cars
we drive, to the phones we use and
the standby power that keeps the
world's data safe.

Politicians' misconceptions
As long as everything worked and
nothing went wrong, politicians and
the public were generally happy to
leave it alone.
The industry had no reason to
want it any other way. But the prob-
lem with such an approach over time
can be that unfair misconceptions
start to emerge about an industry.
www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 21
TIME TO PLUG LEAD

Essentially, the BCI has produced a set of marketing materials covering five topics: energy storage/standby; hybrid electric
vehicles (HEV); safety and reliability; motive power; and sustainability/recycling.

surprising sources. “We had an order

The general public — as well as the political for 3,000 copies from India last
week,” he says. Additional market-
classes — are unaware that the recyclable rates ing and informational tools will be
of lead acid batteries are very high and only a tiny also be developed by the committee
on behalf of all BCI members.
amount of lead pollution is caused by the battery The programme is chaired by
industry. It is a proven technology that is improving Donna Snyder, vice president mar-
keting and advertising at East Penn
all the time Manufacturing. She says the ini-
tiative will explain the strengths of
lead acid in terms easily understood
cially the case in the recent stimulus now been released. by those from outside the industry.
package announced by the Obama The programme has been called She also admits that the programme
administration which almost all went The Facts About Lead — The Energy partly stems from a need for the lead
to alternative technologies, some of Solution. acid industry to get better at its PR
which are completely unproven.” Essentially, the BCI has produced a to compete with some of the newer
This decision seems to have sparked set of marketing materials covering technologies.
what is often a sluggish industry into five topics: energy storage/standby; “We felt we needed to do some-
action. Desmarais says the BCI board hybrid electric vehicles (HEV); safety thing to better highlight the advan-
instigated the idea of producing a set and reliability; motive power; and tages and strengths of our industry,”
of standard marketing/educational sustainability/recycling. The materi- says Snyder. “The outcome of the
materials for the lead acid industry als take the form of an easy to read stimulus package was disappointing
in mid-2009. It asked for the help of and distribute document that can and probably was partly behind this.
marketing people working within its be printed or distributed electroni- We now hope our members will use
members and the project gradually cally. Each gives detailed, accurate these at things like trade shows to
gained momentum. and timely information and facts showcase what we do in terms of
about lead acid batteries designed to the advantages and effectiveness of
Consensus found inform and dispel misconceptions. lead acid.
“It was great to see everyone’s will- Each full colour, four page bro- “We have received a very posi-
ingness to participate,” Desmarais chure can be used by member firms tive response so far and received
says. “The industry can be pretty for numerous applications including a number of calls from companies
competitive but this created a con- trade shows and conventions, direct wanting to get involved and help.
sensus among our members which mail, schools, local, state federal The reality is this is an industry
was great to see.” The board then and/or provincial governments as with a proven track record and with
gave the initiative the green light well as prospective customers. advances in lead acid technology we
for the programme at a meeting last Desmarais says the initiative has can compete with any battery tech-
November, the results of which have already attracted demand from some nology on most fronts.
22 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com
TIME TO PLUG LEAD
“We are also unique in that we
have a proven story to tell. With a
dependable supply line, mature man-
ufacturing and recycling processes,
lead acid technology is the most cost
effective, recyclable, and practical
battery energy storage solution for
many applications. But we need to
get better at telling people that. Our
PR, in contrast to the companies
behind some of the newer technolo-
gies, needs to get better. This will
hopefully help that process.”
Dan Langdon, BCI president and
president of the East Penn Manufac-
turing Company, says: “Our indus-
try has a great story to tell. We now
have in place a means and methodol-
ogy to promote our industry to buy-
ers, consumers and government.”
The lead acid industry is naturally
supportive of the new programme
although some believe its launch
could have been more high profile.
There was no information on the ini-
tiative on the public part of the BCI
website and little on it has appeared
in the mainstream press yet.
Compete on the PR front
“It is definitely needed. Although the
BCI has done a good job over the
years of explaining the safety ele-
ments and benefits of lead acid, the
industry must learn to compete with
these new battery technologies on a
PR front as well,” says Karl Froelich,
the vice-president of marketing and
sales at Atraverda, the UK com-
pany that owns the intellectual prop-
erty rights to a conductive ceramic
known as Ebonex, which makes lead
acid technology more efficient.
“The recyclable rates of lead acid
batteries are very high and only
a tiny amount of lead pollution is
caused by the battery industry. It is
a safe technology that is proven and
very highly regulated. There are new
www.batteriesinternational.com
Our industry has a great story to tell. We now have
in place a means and methodology to promote our
industry to buyers, consumers and government
companies with new battery chem- “They looked to create jobs and
istries moving into areas tradition- kick-start a fledging industry; how-
ally dominated by lead acid such as ever, re-investing in the established
electrified vehicles and energy stor- US lead acid battery industry got left
age. But, especially with new lead out,” he says.
acid battery technologies such as “Many of those new lithium ion
those Atraverda is commercializing , technologies are unproven and
lead acid still has a very strong and investing in any new technology on
positive story to tell. It is a proven a large scale is risky.”
technology that is improving all the
time.” Keep the buzz going
Froelich says he too disagrees with Whether a bunch of marketing docu-
the way the government allocated the ments will be enough to start to
recent stimulus package but under- reverse the views of politicians about
stands partly why that happened. the lead acid industry remains to be
“For a long time, the US economy seen.
has been reliant on imported oil,” But with more stringent regulation
he says. for lead acid batteries also on the
“The government believes technol- horizon, it cannot hurt an indus-
ogies such as lithium-ion have a big try clearly suffering from an image
future but the US has been left behind problem not just in the US but in
in terms of developing and making many countries in the world. “There
these products. It does not want to is a lack of knowledge out there and
remain dependent on importing this we plan to start to change that,”
new type of energy from lithium Desmarais says.
ion batteries from countries such as Snyder says the committee behind
China, Japan and Korea. It wants to this programme will now meet again
develop this industry internally.” at the next BCI convention in Austin,
He says the majority of the money Texas, in early May. There, they will
was also invested into those areas of decide the next stage of the initiative.
the US hardest hit by job losses such “We will look at what to do next to
as Michigan, Ohio and Indianapolis. keep the buzz going,” she says. ■
Whether a bunch of marketing documents will be
enough to start to reverse the views of politicians
about the lead acid industry remains to be seen. But
with more stringent regulation for lead acid batteries
also on the horizon, it cannot hurt an industry clearly
suffering from an image problem not just in the US
but in many countries in the world.
BROCHURE RATES
Rates for the brochures are well priced for BCI members and prices
dramatically fall for bulk buying. They range from $70 for 100 for
each brochure but only climb to $150 for an order of a 1000.
BCI says that the Facts About Lead brochures have been
copyrighted and trademarked. BCU has contracted with Reprint
Outsource for editorial reprints that can be personalized allow-
ing companies the ability to insert their own name, company
logo and the like for an extra fee. The brochures can also be
posted on a company’s website as part of the fee. The licence
fee for an unlimited electronic reprint file is $495 per brochure.
Batteries International Winter 2010 23
BCI
122nd Convention and
May 2 – 5, 2010
Renaissance Hotel | Austin, Texas

Power Mart Trade Fair

M ine the in-depth knowledge of the latest technologies and environmental issues in
the battery industry.

A ssemble with renowned industry experts and share experiences with peers.

N etwork with customers and meet new prospects.

A ssess the latest global regulatory and legislative issues that impact the industry.

G ather the latest news on emerging energy technologies around the world.

E valuate the findings from European and North American forecasts on industrial and
motive power shipments and industry trends.

Manage the scientific and economic future of
your company. Move to the cutting edge of the
industry. Make time to attend the Battery Council
International’s 122nd Convention and Power Mart
Trade Show, May 2-5, 2010, in Austin, Texas.
BCI is the trusted provider of information and
networking opportunities in the lead acid battery
industry. We have corralled the collective wisdom of
the industry in a one-stop location where you can
submerge yourself in reliable information.
Your attendance will gain admission to BCI’s
technical, environmental and marketing committees
to discover more about battery manufacturing
and distribution issues. Join other BCI convention
participants who annually collect information from
technical papers on advances and applications in
battery manufacturing processes, charging and
testing, and materials in the SLI, UPS and telecom
and motive battery products.
Be certain to attend Power Mart 2010 — the
premier forum for new technologies, products and
services. BCI’s past events received top marks from
exhibitors for the interest shown by attendees. In
addition to product demonstrations and question-
and-answer sessions with company experts,
participants have an opportunity to set time for
private, one-on-one meetings.
For more information
• Visit: www.batterycouncil.org for online
registration and updates on housing, speakers,
exhibitors, or
• Contact BCI headquarters direct:
Phone, 312.644.6610; Fax, 312.527.6640, or
• Email at info@batterycouncil.org

W W W. B AT T E RY C O U N C I L . O R G
NEWS IN BRIEF
TUV Product Service
authorized in UK
The Cellular Telecommunications
and Internet Association (CTIA) has
appointed TUV Product Service as the
only UK authorized testing laboratory
for mobile device battery certification.
This represents an extension of scope
for TUV SUD, which had already been
appointed by the CTIA to assess the
safety of battery systems in mobile
handsets in its Singapore laboratory.
The CTIA Battery Certification
Programme requires third-party test-
ing for all cellular products before
they can be sold in the US. The serv-
ice will be used by manufacturers of
mobile phones and other devices with
embedded cellular modules to ensure
that their products meet CTIA and
network operator requirements for
safe power management.
GM India close
to finalising lead
and Li-ion battery
sourcing
General Motors India said in February
that it was seeking a vendor from
India for sourcing lead acid batteries
for the electric version of its e-Spark
car. Confirmation of the sales agree-
ment would be signed in June. The
e-Spark is to be launched in October.
GM India had earlier indicated it
planned to source these from China
or Japan.
GM’s e-Spark, will offer two battery
options: lead acid and lithium ion.
While the company has entered into
an agreement with Bangalore-based
Reva for sharing the technology to
produce the basic platform in the
e-Spark, it is not using the battery
technology developed by Reva.
PowerGenix sells
NiZn to US Army
PowerGenix, a developer and manufac-
turer of non-toxic, high-performance
nickel-zinc (NiZn) rechargeable bat-
teries, announced mid-March that the
US Army Tank Automotive Research,
Development and Engineering Center
has purchased NiZn batteries for test
as a possible replacement for the lead-
acid ‘6T’ batteries currently in use.
The firm says its “NiZn technology
offers significant performance gains,
delivering twice the energy in half the
space of lead-acid batteries.”
The most widely deployed battery
format, 6T, is used in 95% of US
www.batteriesinternational.com
military vehicles. In 2008, the military
bought roughly 700,000 6T batteries.
Last year, after recognizing the need
to develop more advanced vehicle bat-
teries, TARDEC formed the Advanced
Automotive Battery Initiative to pursue
cost-effective, lightweight and reliable
battery components and materials.
In addition to performance and
service life advantages over lead-acid,
PowerGenix says its nickel-zinc bat-
tery chemistry outperforms the stand-
ard rechargeable chemistries of nickel
metal-hydride and nickel-cadmium
products, delivering 30% more power
density.
MEGTEC offers Li-ion
pilot line for coating
and drying
MEGTEC Systems, a coating and dry-
ing developer for advanced materials,
announced mid-March that it can
now offer pilot line capabilities for
Li-ion systems and a line is in opera-
tion at the company’s headquarters in
Wisconsin.
“Our coating and drying pilot
line for battery electrodes offers
the flexibility Li-ion battery elec-
trode developers need to continue
to develop cost effective solutions,”
says Mohit Uberoi, chief executive
of the firm.
“Timing, as well as the technology
itself, is crucial for companies in an
emerging industry such as this. Li-ion
battery developers and their investors
know that lab-scale technologies hold-
ing promise need to be tested further
to determine performance and cost
competitiveness.
“The sooner they can conduct real-
world, pilot line R&D and testing to
validate their coating and material, the
sooner they can optimize their process
and move forward toward scale-up
modeling and, ultimately, cost-effec-
tive commercial production,” he said.
UPG, K2 sign battery
distribution agreement
Universal Power Group announced in
January it had entered into a multi-year
battery distribution agreement with
K2 Energy Solutions, a developer and
manufacturer of rechargeable battery
systems for electric vehicles.
UPG will have the rights to market,
distribute and sell K2’s complete line
of lithium iron phosphate products.
K2 will provide manufacturing, engi-
neering and technical expertise, as
well as support relating to products
covered under the agreement.
US demand for energy
storage materials to
fall to $4.3bnin 2013
US demand for materials used in
batteries and fuel cells is expected
to decline to $4.3 billion in 2013,
largely as a result of a moderation in
raw material prices, particularly lead,
which increased at double-digit rates
during the 2003-2008 period.
In particular, growth will be bolstered
by an acceleration in lead-acid battery
output as motor vehicle production
recovers. The continued popularity
of high-drain electronic devices will
provide favourable opportunities for
metals, chemicals and other materials.
These and other trends, includ-
ing market share and company pro-
files, are presented in Battery & Fuel
Cell Materials, a new study from
The Freedonia Group, a US industry
research firm.
So happy birthday …
sweet 100 years old
Shield Batteries is celebrating its first
century of doing business this year. The
UK firm set up by William Butterfield
in 1910 which produced accumulator
batteries in glass jars has come a long
way from its humble premises in north
London. Its present chief executive,
Neil Butterfield is the fourth generation
to lead the firm. He joined the company
in 1988.
Recent highlights include the
association with Crown Battery in
the US in 2005, the acquisition of the
Sterling VRLA batteries brand in 2008
as well as the acquisition of Shepherd
& Co that year.
Interstate sets US
battery sale record
Interstate Batteries has announced it
has set its all-time one-month sales
record in January with more than 1.5
million automotive batteries sold, —
nearly 11% over its previous record
in October 2009.. The 58-year-old
company has tracked its monthly sales
for 50 years.
The record-breaking month also
brought another sales milestone.
Dallas-based Interstate sold its 300
millionth automotive replacement bat-
tery in January — almost one battery
for every single American. ■
Batteries International Winter 2010 25
NEW PRODUCT NEWS
Ioxus launches smaller EDLCs
Ioxus, the US-based ultraca-
pacitor developer and man-
ufacturing firm, launched
a new family of large cell
prismatic electrochemical
double layer capacitors
(EDLC) for transportation
and utility applications at
AEG Power Solutions launch UPS
product to incorporate renewables
AEG Power Solutions
launched in February
its new UPS product
called “Combination
Architecture” standby
power product
The unusual name for the
product — Combination
Architecture — reflects the
idea behind the standby
power system.
The product is modular
and is designed to incor-
porate alternative and
renewable energy supply
and storage technologies to
enhance its power system
efficiency.
Exide launch new monobloc battery range
Exide Technologies launched
a new range of monobloc
batteries featuring spiral
wound AGM technologies in
February. The dry-safe Recup
batteries require no mainte-
nance (including topping up)
as the electrolyte is suspended
in an absorbed glass mat.
26 Batteries International Winter 2010
the end of January that
it says are now lower in
cost for the overall system
design.
The 1,000 farad, 3,000F
and 5,000F ultracapaci-
tors are smaller in size with
increased energy and power
AEG Power Solutions says
it believes the launch of
Combination Architecture
will provide the basis for a
new generation of standby
power systems capable of
harnessing renewable and
alternative energy sources.
“The new solutions will
utilise low-impact, cost-
efficient technologies as
sources of power or energy
storage to increase sys-
tem efficiency and reduce
carbon footprint. These
technologies include ultra
capacitors, fuel cells,
solar cell and wind power
The main benefit is that
they offer superior high
power performance (such
as large power draws over
short durations) and are well
suited for fast and oppor-
tunity charging as they can
accept a high charge.
The spiral-wound design
density compared to prod-
ucts of other industry play-
ers, according to Ioxus.
Ioxus EDLCs can be
used as sole energy storage
devices or can be combined
with other types of energy
storage devices, such as
batteries or fuel cells,
to meet the user power
demand requirements.
In this combination,
ultracapacitors expand
the system’s charge and
discharge capabil-
ities into shorter
response times,
extend the life
of other, lower-
power elements
and open up
new options for
energy storage
energy,” according to
Michael Adams, global vice
president for data & IT at
AEG Power Solutions.
Adams said Combination
Architecture signals a newer
direction for UPS firms that,
he says. must balance “con-
tinuing demands for greater
and more reliable comput-
ing capacity in a world fac-
ing ever-tightening regula-
tion of carbon emissions
and the challenge of con-
trolling power costs is now
a major concern for eve-
ryone involved in the data
centre industry.” ■
gives a greater surface area
of positive and negative plate
within the cell and is the
most efficient way of liberat-
ing the stored energy from a
lead acid battery.
As well as being mainte-
nance free, they are vibration
resistant, can operate effec-
applications. Ioxus says its
ultracapacitors are particu-
larly suited for applications
where weight or volume
of systems is important
because of their high-power
densities.
The New York State Energy
Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA)
awarded Ioxus $200,000
in December to expand
its product line, accelerate
sales growth and access new
markets.
The grant was awarded
to 18 clean-energy busi-
nesses in New York State
to help companies expand,
commercialize cutting-edge
technologies and create
new clean economy jobs in
New York. ■
tively in low temperatures
and have minimal health and
safety implications. Because
the electrolyte is suspended
in a glass microfibre mat, no
electrolyte is spilt even if the
battery case is damaged.
They can also offer 450
charging cycles. ■
www.batteriesinternational.com
INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
IMS Research’s analysis of the global uninterruptible power supply market
shows that a recovery is beginning to take hold. Growing over 10% from the
previous quarter, 4Q09 posted the strongest quarter-on-quarter revenue
increase since early 2008. Jason dePreaux from IMS explains its findings.
UPS market ends
2009 on a higher note
The UPS market reached a peak in
mid-2008, fuelled by large data centre
builds and strong IT investment in
Brazil, Russia, India and China. That
year the global market was worth over
$8 billion (this includes UPS hardware
and original batteries). By the end of
2009 the market has lost $1.5 billion;
a decline of approximately 20%.
The global economic recession
caused severe cutbacks in IT expen-
ditures as upgrades and new projects
were put on hold or shelved. The once
booming high-capacity, three phase
segment, primarily supporting new
or refurbished enterprise data centres,
saw revenues plummet due to project
delays and cancellations.
Europe was especially hard hit. The
disappearance of credit and inven-
tory destocking caused the Russian
market to collapse. Heavy exposure
to the banking crisis in the UK and
Spain stalled investment in upgrades.
Moreover, an unfavourable currency
exchange relative to the US dollar
enhanced the already steep decline in
the euro zone.
Unlike product sales, revenues from
UPS services like maintenance contracts
were actually up in 2009.
One reason for the uptick was that
UPS sold in 2007 and 2008 (which were
record sales years) came out of warranty
and became eligible for annual service
agreements. However, older UPS, which
may have previously been slated for
replacement, were being held in service
longer amid the recession which also
helped to prop up service revenues.
Unfortunately, the battery replace-
ment side of the business suffered as
budget-starved end users saw batteries
as an easy target for neglect. Batteries
scheduled for replacement in 2009 were
put off until budgets returned.
This suggests that 2010 will offer good
opportunities for the battery replace-
ment business since delays can only be
put off for so long. This market will
www.batteriesinternational.com
World UPS market development – 2009
Year-on-year growth rates from 2008
20%
10%
Revenue growth rates ($)
0%
-10%
-20%
-30%
1Q09
UPS hardware
also benefit from the large number of
units sold in 2006-2008 coming up for
five year replacements in the next few
years.
Quarterly trends suggest the worst is
over and that the market will finally
start adding revenues next quarter. Sev-
eral segments of the market posted posi-
tive year-on-year growth in 4Q 2009 —
a first for an otherwise abysmal 2009.
There are multiple reasons for an
improved environment as of late. For
one, the market had a much lower
base to grow from as 4Q 2008 began
the drastic plunge in revenues. Also,
inventory restocking and pent-up
demand for upgrades has caused an
uptick in orders, even in the hardest
hit countries like Russia.
Though the market was still down
on a worldwide basis, the encouraging
trend is that the market added revenues
in 4Q 2009 from the previous quarter at
the fastest rate in five years.
IMS Research forecasts this recovery
will continue in 2010. Demand will
return first in the low and medium
power segments, especially in Asia
where markets in China and Southeast
Asia are rebounding quickly from the
recession.
2Q09 3Q09 4Q09
UPS service
Orders of large three-phase systems
will take longer to bounce back as
project bids are just beginning to
reappear and lead times typically run
several months.
Even with growth approaching dou-
ble-digit rates next year, the market is
years away from seeing 2008 levels of
demand with the deep hole it has to
dig out of.
Still, there is reason for optimism in
the longer term. The market is likely
to rebound quicker than the period
following the dot.com bust. Criti-
cal power infrastructure today is not
operating with the same over capacity
that typified the last slump, when data
centres were over built and resources
sat unused for years.
Increasing digitization is continuing
to permeate all aspects of our daily
lives and computing uptime is more
critical than ever. This implies that the
UPS market will bounce back soon.
Just don’t expect it to happen over-
night. ■
IMS Research, www.imsresearch.com,
is a supplier of market research and
consultancy services on a wide range of
global electronics markets.
Batteries International Winter 2010 27
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since
Engineering-Power
COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
The race to find the winning chemistry for the next generation
of electric vehicles is on. Lynnda Greene explores six possible
chemistries and the companies that are looking to become their
champion.

Chasing the
lithium
dream
It’s been a noble endeavour. But not
one that anyone could say has been an
unparalleled success. For the last dec-
ade and more some of the best brains
in the business have been on the hunt
— an elusive one — for the perfect
lithium battery.
It’s elusive because every chemistry
presents inherent trade-offs between
its attributes: increasing power density
requires higher voltage that reduces
longevity and safety while increasing
cost; greater energy density tends to
reduce power density; and to date
most attempts to simultaneously opti-
mize power, energy, longevity, and
safety have resulted in increased over-
all battery cost.
Due to the differences among these
development paths, the attributes of
one type of Li-ion battery cannot nec-
essarily be generalized to other types.
The table here presents an illus-
trative snapshot of several key Li-
ion technologies rated according to
standards and goals set by the United
States Advanced Battery Consortium
(USABC), an organization compris-
ing the Chrysler Group, Ford Motor
Company and General Motors Com-
pany, and dedicated to the develop-
ment of electrochemical energy stor-
age technologies for use in fuel cell,
hybrid, and electric vehicles.
A poor rating falls far short of meeting
USABC goals in that category; a moder-
ate rating indicates promise in meeting
goals with further development; a good
rating indicates evidence of high poten-
tial and an excellent rating indicates
near total achievement of most goals.
For all its advantages, the intricacies
of Li-ion’s various reactions remain
perplexing in all current battery appli-
cations.
One failed cell can initiate an exo-
thermic reaction that raises its tempera-
ture to hundreds of degrees Celsius. In
seconds, adjacent cells can also heat,
producing a runaway thermal reaction
that can be spectacular. Worse, because
the cell’s inherent chemistry liberates
oxygen, the flames resist smothering.
To date, no single battery has
achieved all power, energy, life, safety,
and cost goals.
But that’s not to say this is unachiev-
able. Only four companies today —
A123, Johnson Controls-Saft, LG Chem
and EnerDel — are engaged in research,

Snapshot of Li-ion PHEV battery chemistries

Name Description Automotive status Power Energy Safety
NCA Lithium nickel,
cobalt and aluminum Pilot Good Good Moderate
LFP Lithium iron phosphate Pilot Good Mod Moderate
NCM Lithium nickel, cobalt Moderate
and manganese Pilot Moderate Good Moderate
LMS Lithium manganese Excellent
spinel Developing Moderate Poor Good
LTO Lithium titanium Developing Poor Poor Good
Moderate
MNS Manganese titanium Research Good Moderate Excellent
MN Manganese titanium Research Excellent Excellent Excellent

30 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com


development and
production successful
enough to render batteries
capable of achieving higher
USABC ratings. Given the
recent accelerating urgency in
the field, we can safely assume
that most of the 50 major
automotive companies around
the world have begun some kind
of electrification programme, and
that most of those 50 automakers
are probably in discussion with all four
of those companies, and possibly others
in the next few years.
Since today’s lithium-ion comes in
many flavours and the differences in
the composition are mostly related to
the cathode material, we will summa-
rize six lithium chemistries as follows:
• lithium nickel, cobalt and alumi-
num (LiNCA)
• lithium iron phosphate (LiFP)
• lithium nickel, cobalt and manga-
nese (LiNCM),
• lithium manganese spinel (LiMS)
Life Cost
Good Moderate
Good Moderate/Good
Poor Moderate
Excellent
Mod Moderate
Good Poor
Unknown Moderate
Unknown Moderate
www.batteriesinternational.com
COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
Cobalt—more reactive than nickel or
manganese—offers the benefit of higher voltage
when paired as a cathode with graphite anodes.
But both cobalt and nickel are expensive.
Manganese is cheaper, but because it is soluble
in electrolytes, life spans in batteries using it are
shorter.
• lithium titanium (LiTO), and, able to mass produce its prismatic
• manganese titanium (LiMNS and (oval wound construction) cells for
LiMS). EV/HEV application sometime this
year. Newly merged Dow Kokam is
Lithium-cobalt-aluminum pursuing a lithium-polymer cell pack-
LiNCA, or Li(Ni0.85Al0.05)O2 ing greater power capacity.
Lithium nickel-cobalt-aluminum LIC-GAIA, working on an interest-
(LiNCA) is similar to LiNCM but uses ing cylindrical design using M6 stud
lower-cost aluminum to replace the terminals, is somewhat limited by low-
manganese. Companies making NCA volume manufacturing capability.
cells include JCI-Saft, GAIA, Matsu- Li-NCA remains the focus of major
shita and Toyota. Li-NCA batteries makers such as JCI and Panasonic,
perform quite well in terms of power which seem content to produce them in
density, energy density and longevity. huge quantities until new R&D work
However, this technology faces limita- provides the answers to the chemistry’s
tions in safety. shortcomings.
Leading LiNCA manufacturers
include Toyota and a joint venture Lithium-iron phosphate
between Johnson Controls and the LiFP or LiFePO4
French company, Saft, a pioneer in Cobalt—more reactive than nickel
Li-ion chemistry for many years, and or manganese—offers the benefit of
respected for high quality production. higher voltage when paired as a cath-
Little is known about the exact ode with graphite anodes. But both
LiNCA chemistries in the prismatic cobalt and nickel are expensive. Man-
batteries on offer from LG Chem and ganese is cheaper, but because it is
Panasonic, both experienced and repu- soluble in electrolytes, life spans in
table makers. LG Chem now develops batteries using it are shorter.
batteries for General Motors’ much Enter iron phosphate, which offers
touted Chevy Volt. the most promise for its stability, low
Panasonic, 60% owned by Toyota, cost and safety. Because the bonds
has worked with Toyota, Volkswagen, between the iron, phosphate, and oxy-
GM, Ford, and Honda. Panasonic gen atoms are far stronger than those
recently took over Sanyo (supplier to between cobalt and oxygen atoms, the
Honda and Ford HEVs), the world’s oxygen detaches with more difficulty
leading manufacturer of NiMH cells. when overcharged, thus greatly reduc-
Sanyo is reportedly working on an ing the danger of overheating in the
EV/HEV Li-ion technology using a case of failure.
new cathode. Panasonic and Tesla But because iron phosphate doesn’t
announced early this year that they conduct well, engineers add dopants
would work together to refine a lith- that cause cells to work at a lower volt-
ium-nickel-based chemistry. age than cobalt — and that requires
Second tier makers include GS Yuasa, the binding of more cells to drive a
which supplied the initial batteries for motor. Iron phosphate battery packs
Mitsubishi. The firm expects to be thus need more interconnections and
To maximize the speed at which the battery can
charge and discharge, researchers have had to
come up with a material offering a very ordered
crystalline structure that will allow lithium ions to
freely flow between the metal layers.
Batteries International Winter 2010 31
COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
OVERVIEW: THE CHEMISTRIES
Despite false starts and scepticism as
the century’s first EV prototypes rolled
off the drawing board and on to shop
floors, auto/battery industry analysts
typically agree on two things: electric
vehicles are going to come on strong,
and they’re going to be powered by
some kind of lithium-ion battery.
While the nickel-metal-hydride bat-
tery long trusted in hybrid vehicles
may suffice in lower performing
PHEV designs, the Li-ion family of
technologies clearly holds the most
promise for achieving the necessary
power and energy density goals.
That Li-ion batteries can be con-
structed from a wide variety of
materials — a suite of elements and
combinations — attracts develop-
ers for the unprecedented freedom
the chemistry offers them as they
pursue promising variations for
use in a variety of applications.
“The appeal of lithium chemis-
tries is that they’re flexible,” says
Ahmad Pesaran, NREL principle
engineer and energy storage task
leader at the National Renewable
Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado.
“They offer a wide range of vari-
ations and packaging options that
afford opportunities to fine tune
toward specific applications.
"One variation can be utilized for
hybrid electric, another for plug-in
hybrids, and of course for multiple
consumer products. So you have
a continuum of learning that can
be employed in multiple ways.”
32 Batteries International Winter 2010
All lithium chemistries share one
component in common: an elec-
trochemical shuttle mechanism
that carries lightweight, electro-
chemically energetic lithium in a
non-metallic, ionic form between the
cell’s (positive) cathode and (nega-
tive) anode electrodes. The generic
term “lithium-ion” refers to a variety
of anode/cathode/electrolyte sub-
chemistries. While most research
attention has focused on the cath-
ode chemistry, more is now being
directed to improving the anode,
electrolyte and separators as well.
The most challenging aspect to
all lithium chemistries is achieving
the optimal relationship between
anodes and cathodes, since the
choice of materials can affect a
battery’s voltage, capacity, dura-
bility and safety dramatically. The
anode is typically made of graph-
ite, but the cathode can be made
from one of three materials:
• a layered oxide, such
as cobalt oxide
• a polyanion, such as lith-
ium iron phosphate
• or a spinel, such as man-
ganese oxide.
The choice of material presents
trade-offs in the rate at which the
cathode can absorb and emit free
lithium ions, and produce power.
Lithium batteries’ zero memory effect
extends cell life indefinitely to move
from recharge to discharge with-
out decreasing maximum charge
potential through repeated cycling.
Lithium chemistries can be fur-
ther broken down by differences
in packaging: lithium-ion versus
lithium polymer. Though positive and
negative electrodes in both possess
similar chemical composition, Li-ion
technology uses a metal enclosure
to limit the expansion of chemical
materials over the battery's life.
By contrast, Li-polymer uses poly-
mer fibers to tie the chemical materi-
als together, and soft materials for
enclosure, such as plastic or alumi-
num foil. For a thickness of 3mm or
less, Li-polymer offers more capacity.
For a thickness more than 3mm, Li-
ion offers more advantages, especially
in price. No matter the particular
lithium recipe, the result is high power
and energy in a relatively small, low
mass package that does not present
the challenging manufacturing and
reliability issues traditionally associ-
ated with metallic lithium anodes.
Despite advancements, Li-ion
battery development is still con-
strained by inherent tradeoffs
between five attributes determined
by rating agencies to be crucial
in an optimal cell: power, energy,
longevity, safety and cost.
The flexible nature of Li-ion tech-
nology, however, in tandem with
safety concerns, has prompted
several alternate paths of contin-
ued technological development,
each experimenting with different
anode and cathode materials.
www.batteriesinternational.com
SUNLIGHT ADV 21x29.7 eng.qxd:SUNLIGHT ADV 14,8x21 eng.qxd 10/30/09 11:49 AM Page 1

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www.sunlight.gr
COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
sensors to control systems.
One way around this problem is to
use nanostructures in the cathode, a
technology first introduced by the Uni-
versity of Texas, and greatly developed
by MIT professor Yet-Ming Chiang
and A123 Systems, the company he
founded six years ago in Watertown,
Massachusetts.
As phosphate molecules in the
cathode acquire and give off lithium
atoms — undergoing lithiation and
delithiation — the phase boundary
between the two states shifts, just as
the boundary between cold water and
ice changes during freezing. Because
the molecular lattices of the two states
are structurally more similar to each
other in A123’s nanostructures than in
other phosphate cells, the atoms need
less time to rearrange themselves.
That means lithiation can proceed
faster and deliver more power. That
the lattice spacing of the two phases is
closer reduces physical stress on the cell,
especially in deep discharge and charge.
The phosphate particles in its elec-
trodes are less than 100 nanometres
across, about a hundredth of the size
of the oxide particles used in existing
Li-ion technologies. Thus A123’s cell
produces better power and longer
life than earlier generations of iron
phosphate cells. While the battery
has slightly lower energy density than
other competing lithium-ion technolo-
gies, a 2Ah cell can provide a peak of

COMPANY PROFILE
A123 SYSTEMS
The equation above says it all about
the firm. A123Systems owes its
name to the Hamaker force con-
stant which calculates the attrac-
tive and repulsive forces between
particles at nano dimensions.
The start-up company founded
in 2001 by Yet-Ming Chiang, Bart
Riley, and Ric Fulop with a $100,000
grant is now a mature multi-million
dollar developer and manufacturer
of lithium batteries following its suc-
cessful stock listing last September.
The firm’s proprietary nanoscale
electrode technology followed on from
experiments directed by Chiang at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In November 2005, A123Systems
announced a new higher power,
faster recharging lithium ion battery
system based on doped nanophos-
phate materials licensed from MIT.
In 2006, A123Systems won a $15
million development contract by the
United States Advanced Battery
Consortium (USABC) to optimize
the A123Systems proprietary doped
nanophosphate battery technology
for hybrid electric vehicle applica-
tions with a focus on systems that
are high-power, abuse-tolerant,
long lasting and cost effective.
Thanks to its strong technical back-
ground, A123 retains secure leader-
ship in the chemistry with its nanofer-
rite technology. Their cathode is still
regarded as the safest (no thermal runa-
way) while offering higher power density.
Some maintain concerns about the
terminal design, but the company con-
tinues to gain funding and partnerships.
To date they have worked with Gen-
eral Motors, Daimler, Th!nk Electric
Vehicles and Chrysler.They recently
signed a deal to supply batteries to
Fisker Automotive while also invest-
ing $23 million in the car maker.
In December the company
announced plans to work with Chi-
nese automaker SAIC Motor Co in
a joint venture to develop, manu-
facture and sell complete vehicle
traction battery systems for use in
hybrid electric and pure electric pas-
senger and truck applications.
GM, which considered A123’s LFP
battery for its Chevy Volt, has a strong
relationship with A123. A robust
chemistry still under development,
the nanophosphate formula remains
a leading contender for possible use
in GM electric vehicle applications.

34 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE PRIMER
COMPANY PROFILE
LG CHEM
Inside the Chevy Volt: here the
gasoline-powered engine is used as
a generator to recharge the LG Chem
batteries
LG Chem (established as Lucky Gold
Star Chemical in 1947) merged with
LG Petrochemical in 2007 to become
Korea’s largest chemical company,
maintaining eight domestic factories
and direct marketing branches in the
Americas, China, Russia, Germany,
Poland, Switzerland, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thai-
land, Turkey, Vietnam, and Brazil.
LG Chem is a member of the
LG Group, a major South Korean
industrial conglomerate with inter-
ests in electronics, flat panels, tel-
ecommunications and logistics.
LG Chem began mass-producing
Korea’s first lithium-ion batteries in
1999. By the end of 2008 LG had
become the world’s third-largest
maker with annual production of
both Li-ion and Li-polymer batteries
reaching 40 million small format cells
www.batteriesinternational.com
“GM needed a high volume producer with a
track record in this challenging field where you
have to have mastered the art of high volume
manufacturing of Li ion batteries.”
Mohamed Alamgir, research director at Compact Power,
a subsidiary of LG Chem
70A without damage and operate at
temperatures above 60C.
Though General Motors considered
using A123's highly capable cell in their
much touted Chevy Volt, they ultimately
chose LG Chem's lithium manganese
spinel cell because, among other reasons
(detailed later), a flat-cell design stores
more energy and dissipates more heat
than cylinder-shaped cells.
per month, including 30 million cells
in Korea and 10 million overseas.
In June 2007 General Motors
chose Compact Power, along with
competitor Continental, to develop
the Lithium-ion battery packs for
Chevrolet Volt pre-production concept
car. (CPI would use LG Chem cells,
Continental would use A123 cells.)
In January of 2009 GM selected LG
Chem over A123 to produce LG's
proprietary manganese-cathode
chemistry cells for the E-Flex plat-
form propulsion system underpinning
the production version of the Volt.
LG will produce the flat-cell
designed units in Korea, and ship
them directly to GM in the US CPI
will build packs for the Volt vehi-
cles until GM’s own battery facility
is fully operational. “GM needed a
high volume producer with a track
record in this challenging field where
you have to have mastered the art
of high volume manufacturing of Li
ion batteries.” says Mohamed Alam-
gir, research director at Compact
Power, a subsidiary of LG Chem.
“We had a cathode chemistry
in development over some years,
that is well characterized, easy to
produce, abundant in nature and
inexpensive, and that we know
how to process in quantity, Making
large cells is a challenge if you deal
with long electrodes, but we had a
process in place that is amenable
to high volume manufacturing.”
However Martin Kruse, executive
director for GM hybrid vehicles, said
last year that GM developers “are also
very intrigued and attracted to some
of what A123 has to offer and are con-
tinuing to do advanced development
with A123 for future applications”.
Iron phosphate might be the most
promising new cathode, thanks to its
stability and safety. The compound is
inexpensive, and because the bonds
between the iron, phosphate, and oxy-
gen atoms are far stronger than those
between cobalt and oxygen atoms, the
oxygen is much harder to detach when
overcharged. Should it fail, it will do
so without overheating.
Unfortunately, iron phosphate cells
work at a lower voltage than cobalt,
so more of them must be chained
together to provide enough power
to turn a motor. A123Systems uses
nanostructures in its LiFP cathodes,
supposedly to produce better power
and longer life.
LiFP technologies perform simi-
larly to Li-nickel-cobalt-aluminum
(LiNCA) batteries, but with a higher
degree of safety due to a more stable
electrode material, and with less
susceptibility to thermal runway and
other threats and potential for lower
costs.
LiFeBatt has focused on making
two kinds of cells, one power dense
and the other energy dense. LiFeBatt
will make more than 1 million Li-ion
phosphate cells this year at its Taiwan
factory. Its power-dense version is
Nissan, which markets
the Leaf EV, anticipates
the new batteries to
cost around the same
as the conventional
Li-ion batteries as they
contain only a small
amount of cobalt, a
relatively expensive
metal.
Batteries International Winter 2010 35
COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
General characteristics Critical factors

Safety Manufacturing

CELL CELL CELL Readiness

CHEMISTRY CONFIGURATION SPEC Chemistry Cell design Capabiltiy (2012)

NEAR TERM
A123 SYSTEMS LFP / C 32113 3.3V / 3.5Ah 5 3 3 5
32157 3.3V / 16.2Ah

LFP / C POUCH 3.3V / 6.0Ah 5 1 3 5

3.3V / 16.2Ah

HITACHI NCM / C 40108 3.6V / 5.0Ah 3 5 5 5

JCI-SAFT NCA / C 40145 3.6V / 7.0Ah 3 3 5 5

LG CHEMICALS NCA / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / 20Ah 3 3 5 5

PANASONIC NCA / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / 6.0Ah 3 3 5 5

SAMSUNG NCA / C 32118 3.6V / 5.5Ah 3 5 5 5

SANYO ?? / C ? 3.6V / 5.0Ah 5 3 5 5

3.6V / 20Ah

MID TERM
GS YUASA NCA / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / 6.0Ah 3 3 3 3
3.6V / 50Ah

KOKAM NCA / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / 7.5Ah 3 3 5 5

LTC-GAIA NCA / C 34176 3.6V / 7.5Ah 3 3 3 3

LFP / C ? 3.3V / x.xAh 5 3 3 1

TOSHIBA LMO / LTO PRISMATIC 2.4V / 3.0Ah 5 3 5 5

MID TERM
ALTAIR NCA / LTO POUCH 2.4V / x.xAh 5 1 1 3
BAK LFP / C 26650 3.3V / 2.0Ah 5 3 5 3

ELECTRO ENERGY INC NCA / C BIPOLAR 3.6V / x.xAh 3 3 1 1

ENERDEL LMO / C POUCH 3.6V / x.xAh 3 1 3 3

LMO / LTO POUCH 2.4V / x.xAh 5 1 3 3

HIGH POWER LITHIUM LMP / C ? 3.6V / x.xAh 5 1 1 1

LISHEN LFP / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / x.xAh 5 1 1 3

MURATA LMO / C PRISMATIC 3.6V / 4.0Ah 3 3 3 1

36 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

 COVER STORY: ALL THINGS LITHIUM
Remarks

EV/HEV
Market
position RPN CELL CHEMISTRY / DESIGN MANUFACTURING EXPERIENCE

3 225 Safest cathode chemistry / no thermal runa-
way. Charge neutral cell design. Safe to
handle. Terminal design is mechanically
weak. Rupture disc vent system only.
1 75 High efficiency design. Good thermal characteris-
tics. Cells can be made with terminals on opposite
ends. Sealing, etc., for pouch type design has not
been proven for high-vibration op conditions.
Moderate. Mfg high-power 26650 cells since
2004. New plant in Tianjin, China, to build 32113
/ 32157 automotive grade HEV/EV batteries
Currently developed for GM Volt. Purchased Korean Enerland
cell manufacturer specifically for prismatic cell development.

5 375 CID design. Currently supplied to a major OEM HEV program.

5 225 Cell terminals on same side with safety SAFT pioneered Li-ion chemistry for long
vent valve on can bottom. time. High quality manufacturing.
3 225 Unknown. Currently developed for GM Volt. Experi-
enced in Li-Ion battery manufacturing.
5 225 Unknown. Assume to be very sim- Experienced in Li-ion battery manufactur-
lar to current Toyta Pirus battery. ing. Toyota owes 60% of company.
5 375 Well-behaved chemistry. Reliable CID design. World's #2 Li-ion battery manufacturer. Devel-
Well-developed mechanical interface. oped for a major OEM HEV application. New mass
production line for HEV appln by 2010.
5 375 New cathode material. As safe as LFP materials. World's #1 NiMH manufacturer. Current Honda and
Ford HEV NiMH HEV supplier. New HEV Li-ion tech-
nology. Strong manufacturing base. 1M Li-ion cells
production line by 2010, and 10M by 2015.

3 81 Prismatic design with both terminals on top and
safety vent on side. Oval wound construction.
3 225 Lithium Polymer cells. New design
for higher power capability.
1 81 Cylindrical design with M6 stud terminals. Equipped
with safety vent only. Cell can is charge neutral.
Manufacturing experience form Yuasa & GSB. Ini-
tial production line for Mitsubishi MiEV limited applica-
tions. Mass EV/HEV production ready in 2010 (?)
Well established product line.
Low-volume manufacturing only. Variety of
cell dimension and capacity available.

1 45 Similar current products. Started development about 1-1/2 years ago,

but no product or prototype available yet.

3 375 Safest anode material. High operat- Long manufacturing experience in Li-ion battery production.
ing temp possible. Prismatic design with
both terminals on top. Safety vent only.

1 15 Unknown. Immature technology.

1 225 Unknown. May infringe A123 technology. Contract manufacturer for A123 in the past. 2nd
or 3rd largest Li-Ion battery mfg in China.
1 9 Bipolar design for highest energy/power efficiency. Prototype production only.
No final cell design to evaluate safety and reliability.

3 27 Pouch construction is more difficult to con- Developed under Th!nk program. Low-volume manufac-
trol and operation safety may be an issue. turing only. Plan to build new mass production line.
1 45 Same design as above. Safest anode mate-
rials for higher temp operations.
1 5 Unknown. Immature technology.
1 15 Technology licensed from Valence. Cell design is Low-volume or prototype production for Miles Automotive EV.
of prismatic type, but only in early development.
1 27 Apply EDLC technique for LIB construction.

www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 37

ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE PRIMER
3.3V, 8Ah, has a weight density of
80Wh/kg, and is capable of 20A deep
discharge.
BAK, a former contract manufac-
turer for A123 and one of the larger
Chinese manufacturers, is also work-
ing on an LFP cell.
Lishen has been producing cells
licensed from Valence, and is report-
edly making prototypes for Coda
Automotive (derived from Miles Elec-
tric Vehicles). GAIA began working
in the chemistry about two years ago,
and to date has yet to produce a pro-
totype.
Though research in this promising
chemistry continues apace, a patent
COMPANY PROFILE
JOHNSON CONTROLS
Ford and the Electric Power Research
Institute are collaborating to test the
plug-in hybrid. Johnson Controls-
Saft is supplying the battery for
this demonstration fleet of Escape
Hybrids, and will also supply Ford's
first series production plug-in hybrid
electric vehicle (PHEV), which will be
introduced in 2012.
Johnson Controls, based in Mil-
waukee in the US, is a full-service
supplier capable of executing the
entire battery system, from design to
manufacturing, including: mechanical
subsystem, electrochemistry/cell tech-
nology, battery management systems
(hardware and software), electronics,
and thermal management systems.
In 2006 JCI launched a joint venture
with French maker Saft to open the
world’s first manufacturing facility for
lithium-ion hybrid and electric vehi-
cle applications in Nersac, France
(completed in 2008), one of Saft’s 18
production sites around the world.
JCI-Saft offer their Li-ion chemis-
try in a cell portfolio ranging from
six amp-hour capacity to 45 amp-
hours, with a nominal voltage rating
of 3.6, regardless of Ah capacity.
The cathode utilizes nickel cobalt
38 Batteries International Winter 2010
war over LFP formulae and crystal
structures has involved many famous
manufacturers of lithium batteries,
including Panasonic, ASEC, Johnson
Controls-SAFT, Toshiba, Hitachi,
Aleees, Enerdel, Altairnano, LG Chem,
ABB and E-One Moli, in addition to
leading developers like A123, Valence
and GAIA.
At present, the root patents of the
LFP compounds are held by three
professional material companies:
Li1-xMFePO4 by A123, LiMPO4 by
Phostech and LiFePO4•zM by Aleees.
These patents have been translated
to mature mass production technolo-
gies.
aluminum (NCA) active material; the
anode is graphite based. Cells use a
spiral wound cylindrical construction
format. The electrolyte through which
the lithium ions shuttle is an organic
solution containing conductivity-
enhancing salts. The broad range of
capacities is attractive to custom-
ers working across the spectrum
of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and even
pure electric vehicles. The four lay-
ers of redundancy in each lithium-
ion battery system ensure safety.
JCI is building its own Li-ion
manufacturing facility in Hol-
land, Michigan, where production
should begin by the end of 2010.
As the world’s leading supplier of
automotive batteries, JCI — deeply
experienced in integrated automo-
tive systems solutions—and Saft,
a storage solutions provider with
extensive Li-ion battery expertise —
represent a formidable market force.
Johnson Controls-Saft boasts
several important partnerships. It is
the exclusive supplier of Ford’s first
Plug-In Hybrid (available in 2012) and
is partnering with Ford and South-
ern California Edison to build and
test a fleet of PHEV Ford Escapes.
Lithium-nickel-cobalt-
manganese Li-NCM or
Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)02
While LiNCM chemistry is a little older
than LiFePO and LiMnO, it represents
an attempt to regain power density
lost in LiMnO and LiFePO formulae.
Li-nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries
are the easiest to make. Manganese is
cheaper than cobalt, but because its pro-
pensity to dissolve slightly in electrolytes
makes for shorter life.
Substituting nickel and manganese
for some of the cobalt raises the
electrical potential just enough to let
manufacturers tune the cell either for
higher power or for greater energy
density (though not both at the same
time). Some researchers are adding
aluminum into the mix, which may
make it less prone to explosion and
fire.
Electrochemically the battery out-
performs LFP and LiCoO2 in terms of
capacity and therefore energy density.
In terms of rate capability—and thus
power density—their electrochemical
performance is better than LiCO’s,
but not as high as LiFP’s. Charging
this battery chemistry to 4.20V/cell
would provide higher capacities but
render a shorter cycle life. Instead of
the customary 800 cycles achieved in
a laboratory environment, the cycle
count would probably be reduced to
about 300.
Although Li-NCM offers a signif-
icant safety advantage over cobalt
oxide and a 50% greater energy den-
sity than LiFP, it nonetheless suffers
from a poor cycle life. Susceptible to
thermal runaway, the chemistry’s long-
term durability is still unclear.
To date these batteries have been
largely deployed in power tools, out-
door power equipment and some
hybrid vehicles.
Sony has begun focusing on the
nickel-cobalt manganese (NCM) ver-
sion. The cathode incorporates cobalt,
nickel and manganese in the crystal
structure that forms a multi-metal
oxide material to which lithium is
added. The manufacturer offers a
range of different products within this
battery family, catering to users that
need either high energy density or high
load capability.
California-based Imara Corporation
had been working on a Li-NCM chem-
istry for some years, with good results
and favourable customer reviews, but
ceased operations in December 2009.
Nissan Motor Co. announced late last
year that has nearly completed devel-
opment of a lithium-ion battery using
a lithium nickel manganese cobalt
oxide cathode.
www.batteriesinternational.com
ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE PRIMER
LiFeBatt has focused on making two kinds of
cells, one power dense and the other energy
dense. LiFeBatt will make more than one million
Li-ion phosphate cells this year at its Taiwan
factory.
The new system, which will offer
almost double the capacity of Nissan/
AESC’s current manganese spinel cell,
is slated for deployment in electric
vehicles sometime in 2015. The bat-
tery should be able to power an elec-
tric vehicle for 300 kilometers (186
miles) on a single charge, about twice
the distance currently possible.
COMPANY PROFILE
ALTAIRNANO
Altairnano, based in Nevada in the
US but a Canadian corporation,
was the first company to replace
traditional graphite materials used in
conventional lithium-ion batteries with
a proprietary, nano-structured lithium
titanate, which does not react with
oxygen. Since the chemistry’s intro-
duction in 2005, however, the combi-
nation has yet to achieve energy den-
sity comparable to other chemistries.
Altairnano battery-based energy
storage systems have three times
the power output of existing batteries
and can be fully charged in as little
as six minutes. Total energy capacity
per cell, however, measures about
half that of normal lithium-ion cells.
(Altairnano says their cells will achieve
12,000+ charge cycles while still
retaining up to 80% charge capacity.)
Durability and battery life are
therefore much longer, esti-
mated to endure up to 20 years
or four times longer than regular
lithium-ion batteries within a -45
°C to 55°C temperature range.
Since the cells do not contain
graphite-coated-metal anode elec-
trical material, the risk of thermal
40 Batteries International Winter 2010
Nissan, which markets the Leaf EV,
anticipates the new batteries to cost
around the same as the conventional
Li-ion batteries as they contain only
a small amount of cobalt, a relatively
expensive metal.
Company executives believe Nissan
can make their batteries at the cost of
the most common Li-ion batteries in
runaway is dramatically reduced. The
power performance characteristics
of the battery systems are well-
suited for mass-transit EV and HEV
applications and stationary power
applications within the utility sector.
Altairnano supplies battery systems
to Proterra, a manufacturer of zero-
emission buses and has delivered
a a 1MW/250kWh system, which is
has been commercially operational
for the past year providing frequency
regulation within the PJM intercon-
nect. The nature of their latest cath-
ode materials remains proprietary.
The status of Altairnano may well
be dependent on the future suc-
cess of the electric vehicle market.
The company freely admits to having
made loss every fiscal years since
its incorporation. In the last three
years’ accounts this was $30.1 mil-
lion loss for 2008, $33.1 million in
2007 and $17.7 million in 2006.
The figures should be looked at
in context, however. The value of
the company is rooted in its sub-
stantial intellectual property rights
and its future is dependent on its
ability to commercialize them.
production now. Nissan manufactures
Li-ion batteries at Automotive Energy
Supply Corporation, its joint venture
with NEC Corporation.
Scotland-based Axeon is experi-
menting in tandem with Allied and
Ricardo, with $2.4 million from the
UK’s Technology Strategy Board, on a
Li-nickel manganese cobalt chemistry.
Axeon says it plans to engineer and
construct the battery system integra-
tion over the next 20 months. Ricardo
will develop an appropriately robust
management system, and Allied will
provide a brand new vehicle plat-
form.
In another partnership deal
announced earlier this year, 3M entered
into a strategic relationship and an
agreement with China-based Amperex
Technologies that will expand the use
of NMC cathode materials in lithium-
ion batteries targeted at consumer
automotive as well as electronic appli-
cations.
In December 2009 Panasonic
announced the development of two
new 18650-type high-capacity lith-
ium-ion battery cells. The newly devel-
oped high-capacity 3.4Ah and 4.0Ah
lithium-ion battery cells appear to
offer an improved nickel-based posi-
tive electrode (Panasonic’s proprietary
positive electrode material is based on
LiNO, allowing for high capacity and
durability).
The 4.0Ah cell uses a silicon-based
alloy for the negative electrode instead
of carbon, and offers a volumetric
energy density of 800 Wh/L, compared
to the 620Wh/L in the current 2.9Ah
cells. In January 2010 Tesla Motors
and Panasonic announced that they
will collaborate to develop Panasonic’s
nickel-based lithium-ion chemistry in
their newest battery packs.
Other companies working with NMC
materials include Sanyo, Hitachi,
GS Yuasa, Samsung, EnerDel, Dow-
Kokam, Evonik/Litarion, Enax, NRC
Lamillion and Litcel (Mitsubishi).
Lithium-manganese oxide
spinel Li-MnO or LiMn2O4
Lithium nickel manganese oxide spinel
consists of layers of metal (nickel and
manganese) separated from lithium
layers by oxygen. Li-MO provides a
higher cell voltage than cobalt-based
chemistries and thus is thermally more
stable. It also offers higher power at
a lower cost than cobalt because its
three-dimensional crystalline structure
provides more surface area, permitting
more ion flow between the electrodes.
Scientists have long known that lith-
ium nickel manganese oxide could store
a lot of energy, but the material took
www.batteriesinternational.com
ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE PRIMER
too long to charge to be commercially
useful. The compound’s major problem
is that the crystalline structure was too
disordered, meaning that the nickel and
lithium, drawn to each other, interfere
with the flow of lithium ions and slow
down the charging rate.
To maximize the speed at which
the battery can charge and discharge,
researchers have had to come up with
a material offering a very ordered
crystalline structure that will allow
lithium ions to freely flow between
the metal layers.
A battery made from the new mate-
rial can charge or discharge in about
10 minutes — about 10 times faster
than the unmodified lithium nickel
manganese oxide.
Cobalt, more reactive than nickel or
manganese, offers the benefit of higher
voltage when paired with graphite
anodes, but cobalt — like nickel — is
expensive. Manganese is cheaper, but
because it is soluble in electrolytes, life
spans in batteries using it are shorter.
The chemistry’s chief drawback lies in
its much lower energy density.
Some 10 years ago LG Chem, which
had been making small format Li-ion
cells for years, formed Compact Power
Inc, a wholly owned US subsidiary,
with the intent of spearheading LG
Chem’s entrance into large format lith-
ium-ion batteries utilizing manganese
spinel for HEV applications.
“Our mandate in forming the com-
pany was to take the lead in develop-
ing large format cells for automotive
applications and serve as the beach
head for LG Chem’s entrance into the
US market,” says Mohamed Alamgir,
CPI’s research director. Their task
proved daunting because, with the
price of gasoline hovering in the $2
a gallon range, US automakers were
not even dreaming of producing elec-
trically powered cars.
“They said thanks but no thanks,”
Alamgir recalls, noting that GM
already had a long history in electric
vehicle technology dating back to the
early 1990s when it produced the
EV1 concept car so popular with its
Cobalt, more reactive
than nickel or
manganese, offers
the benefit of a higher
voltage when paired
with graphite anodes.
But cobalt — like nickel
— is expensive
www.batteriesinternational.com
COMPANY PROFILE
ENERDEL
In September ENER1 and Volvo Cars
teamed up to provide lithium-ion
Power for the new C30 electric vehicle
Formed in 2004 when Ener1
acquired the lithium-ion battery
operations of Delphi, Indianapolis-
based EnerDel, now jointly owned
by Ener1 and Delphi, has gained
considerable commercial suc-
cess in its work in PHEV and EV
Li-ion battery technologies. The
company has enjoyed notable suc-
cess promoting their battery tech-
nologies beyond the automotive
sector, into energy infrastructure,
renewable energy applications,
military, aerospace, industrial, and
related applications and markets.
Itochu Corporation is a long-term
strategic partner and investor in Ener1
and sales and marketing partner in
Asia. It is the largest global resel-
ler of manufacturing equipment for
lithium-ion battery production provid-
ing EnerDeal with unique access to
specialized equipment and material
markets. In February Ener1 and Ito-
chu signed a memorandum of under-
standing for distribution of specialized
equipment and materials needed to
produce lithium-ion battery cells.
Kepco, the Japanese power com-
pany is working with Ener1 to create
and manufacture rapid recharg-
ing systems for electric vehicles.
In the US, the company produces
in units in cells, modules, sub-
packs and complete battery packs
at its Indianapolis plant, the first,
and to date reputedly only, plant
capable of achieving high volume
production of transportation-grade,
lithium ion cells within the US.
EnerDel is working to commercialize
cells using a Lithium titanium oxide
(LTO)/Lithium manganese oxide (LMO)
chemistry. The LTO/LMO combina-
tion is regarded as safe and long
lasting chemistry, with more than
100C pulse power capability and
excellent cold cranking capabilities.
The cells (using a titanate anode)
offer a lower energy density and
lower cell voltage compared to
cells with a graphite anode.
The LTO/LMO combination is
thought to offer considerable promise
in increasing available power. “One of
the great things about our technology
is that we can run the pack in a much
wider energy availability window,”
says CEO Charles Gassenheimer.
“This means we can go up to 95.5%
without any detrimental perform-
ance to our chemistry, as opposed
to our competitors who are still tied
to some of the older technologies.”
Targeting the hybrid market, EnerDel
is producing both a 1.8Ah CD-size
cell (3.6V) and a 5Ah A5-size cell
(3.6V). EnerDel has worked with
Th!nk, ITICHU, and Fisker, and now
has active relationships underway
with automakers Volvo and Nissan.
The Think City EV will use an
EnerDel pack consisting of eight
sub-packs, essentially 16 modules
and approximately 400 cells that
provide 350V and 70 amp hours,
and a total rating of 24.5 kWh. The
Volvo C30 Electric will use a pack
made up not only of a long rectangle
that fits down the centreof the vehi-
cle, but also a secondary pack that
sits just in front of the rear wheels.
Batteries International Winter 2010 41
ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE PRIMER
Panasonic, 60% owned by Toyota, has worked
with Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, Ford, and Honda.
Panasonic recently took over Sanyo (supplier
to Honda and Ford HEVs), the world’s leading
manufacturer of NiMH cells.
small fan base. “They had built up a
vast amount of technological knowl-
edge by the time they got serious about
the Volt after 2005.”
Ultimately GM chose LG Chem and
A123 (with pack partners CPI and
Continental respectively) to further
refine their chemistries to the Volt’s
requirements. “What was challenging
was that GM already had a vehicle
demanding certain specifications and
offering only a certain amount of
space in which to fit the battery itself,”
says Alamgir.
“Given these limitations, our hands
were tied. Since we could not indulge
in a lot of tinkering with the cell sys-
tem, we had to make our chemistry
decisions at an accelerated pace, in
three years instead of the usual five.
We went through all the modelling,
the verification and testing for life and
safety, while GM likewise ran their
own tests.”
LG Chem cells use a proprietary
lithium manganese spinel (LiMn2O4)
material for the cathode with addi-
tives that aim to improve calendar life
under high temperature conditions;
an amorphous carbon anode; and, a
ceramic coating on the separator (the
safety-reinforced separator) to mini-
mize potential thermal runaway due to
42 Batteries International Winter 2010
Nissan Leaf: The shape of things to come
an internal short.
The ceramic-coated safety-rein-
forced separator enhances the abuse
tolerance capability inherent in the
cell’s manganese based cathode in the
cells, thereby offering dual protection
against thermal runaways that can
result from abuse conditions such as
internal shorts or extreme overcharge.
The laminated flat cell package design
is also thermally more efficient and
safer than a metal cylinder.
GM has worked with LG Chem to
make minor adjustments in its manga-
nese spinel chemistry and the pack for
improved life, even as it fine tuned the
Volt itself.
In January 2009 GM awarded the
contact to produce LiMnO cells for
the Volt to LG Chem; CPI will develop
and make the initial cell packs until
GM can make them own in-house.
GM’s Tony Posawatz, vehicle line
director for the Volt, has said that
while A123Systems offers a “great
chemistry,” LG Chem’s flat-cell design
allowed for superior heat dissipation
and greater energy storage. Further,
A123, which primarily manufactures
cylindrical format cells, lacks sufficient
capacity to make the transfer to GM’s
specified prismatic format.
However GM says it will continue to
grow and establish a robust lineup of
battery suppliers for cell development
and manufacturing with such compa-
nies as A123Systems and Hitachi, and
to utilize the battery integration exper-
tise of such companies as Compact
Power and Cobasys.
Canada-based Electrovaya is using
a lithiated manganese oxide-based
chemistry in its patented Lithium-Ion
SuperPolymer battery for, among other
customers, Phoenix Motorcars and
Tata Motors. They offer their lithium-
ion polymer cells as MN-series, phos-
phate series, and cobaltate series to
accommodate both automotive and
consumer applications. Lithium man-
ganese oxide spinel chemistries are
also being developed and tested by GS
Yuasa, NEC-Lamilion Energy, Litcel,
EnerDel, Samsung and Dow Kokam.
Lithium titanate oxide
spinel LTO or LiMnO2
In this chemistry, lithium titantate
replaces the graphite anode. Titanium
is compatible with any of the above
cathodes, but is generally used in con-
junction with high voltage Mn based
materials due to its high potential
compared to Li/Li+. These offer supe-
rior rate capability and power com-
bined with wide operating temperature
range. They are also considered a safer
alternative to the graphite anode due
to higher potential and therefore in-
built overcharge protection.
A “zero-strain” insertion material
means they do not form a large pas-
sivating layer with the electrolyte, and
thus offer a longer cycle life. However,
lithium titanate batteries tend to have
a slightly lower energy density than
graphite based systems. ■
www.batteriesinternational.com
ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE US PERSPECTIVE
A huge amount of funding is going on in the US to allow the country’s
research institutes and manufacturing plants to play catch-up with
foreign technology. Lynnda Greene reports.
View from
the drawing
board
The US Department of Energy is push-
ing a well coordinated drive to develop
and mass produce Li-ion cells for
transportation applications by pump-
ing billions of dollars into its National
Laboratories and Technology Centres.
Comprising the largest scientific
research system in the world, the 21
labs and technology centres, though
federally funded and administered, are
locally managed by private companies
and academic institutions that work
in partnerships with scores of automo-
tive and battery enterprises.
Thanks to a marked increase in
funding over recent years (particularly
through the US stimulus legislation),
billions of dollars are now flowing into
public and private research to mass
produce viable Li-ion batteries for EH/
PHEV applications domestically.
In January 2010, the Department of
www.batteriesinternational.com
Energy released a moderately upbeat
progress report detailing the latest
research results of their Energy Stor-
age Research and Development Vehi-
cle Technologies Programme in the
coordinated labs through 2009.
Section III of the report is particu-
larly timely for its analysis of progress
achieved to date on long standing
R&D objectives — developing an elec-
tric drive cell lasting 15 years at a
cost of $20/kw, with a 40 mile (60
kilometre) range — and barriers (cost,
performance, endurance and longev-
ity). Section IV offers an impressive 85
page summation of accomplishments
resulting from 25 research, develop-
ment, analysis and testing projects
that are promising, if also incomplete.
However Ahmad Pesaran, principal
engineer at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Colorado, is
optimistic about what he sees going on
around the country, especially in the
Department of Energy’s labs.
“We’ve been working in this area
for almost 15 years,” he says, “so
we have lots of tools and model-
ling, experimentation and equipment
to address assorted issues in batter-
ies within three specific programmes.
One is for very fundamental work, in
which we’re working to find anodes
and cathodes of higher energy and
lower cost, and high voltage electro-
lytes. Another is for applied battery
work, and a third programme funds
work directly with the battery compa-
nies themselves, supporting them with
our resources.”
As for promising research, he expects
two areas to expand rapidly in the near
future. “Secondary use of batteries will
see a lot more funding,” he says. “The
automotive and battery industries are
keenly interested in this.”
Even more exciting is the labs’ work
in battery computed engineering.
“Using simulation and modelling tools
like CAT to support designing, build-
ing and fabricating batteries, reduces
the cost and time needed to go from
concept to design to testing to produc-
tion,” he says.
“As it is now, you make the electrode,
you test it, you break it, you crush it,
you test it again in life cycle, and then
before long you’ve used up a year. If
you combine experiments in modelling,
you can reduce the amount of time, and
the cost of materials. The more simula-
tion you do, the less experimentation
you need to do, so you’re speeding up
and reducing costs.”
“If you combine
experiments in
modelling, you can
reduce the amount of
time, and the cost of
materials. The more
simulation you do, the
less experimentation
you need to do, so
you’re speeding up and
reducing costs.”
Batteries International Winter 2010 43
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ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE US PERSPECTIVE
While such R&D efforts to date are
impressive, most have a long way to
go before any pending project can pro-
duce an innovation viable enough to
make the transition from lab bench to
shop floor to the vehicle on the road.
Absolutely critical, R&D is nonethe-
less a gamble given that inherent high
costs will exceed most budgets and
expectations with no guarantee of suc-
cessful results.
Which begs the question, why is the
industry devoting so much energy and
capital to this one chemistry?
“Because there is nothing else,” says
Isidor Buchmann, president, founder
and CEO of Cadex Electronics in
Vancouver, Canada. “We don’t really
have a battery yet, everything is such
a compromise when it comes to cars.
Lithium batteries are best suited to
small applications — hearing aids, cell
phones, laptops, and maybe the elec-
tric bike. The chemistries offer much
potential until you try to get big. The
use of batteries in the electric vehicle is
reaching the limit of feasibility.”
The challenge to create a battery
strong, safe, durable and cheap enough
for a car has still to be met, in his
mind, due to the significant and vola-
tile variables involved — temperature,
environment, stress conditions, life,
safety, and of course cost.
Viability still questionable
“We haven’t really made major
progress in battery technology even
though people say we have, marginal
as it is,” he says. “Governments are
now investing billions of dollars into
this one area, though I’m not yet con-
vinced of lithium’s viability in auto-
motive applications. Lithium batteries
would present considerable danger, for
example, in collision situations, since
water with lithium ignites.
“I notice that Toyota has decided to
continue using nickel metal hydride
batteries in their Prius vehicles.”
Until the last year or two, analysts
have remained hesitant in their predic-
tions for the EV and Li-ion battery
market. Now newer reports, such as
detailed in an analysis issued by Frost
and Sullivan in September 2009, sug-
gest the global market for EV and
HEV battery technologies is well into
a transitional phase that will soon
make an irreversible turn to secondary
lithium-ion batteries.
Frost and Sullivan’s researchers esti-
mate that the lithium-ion battery mar-
ket for EVs, HEVs, and PHEVs will
grow from 2,400 units in 2008 to 1.53
million units by 2015. They expect
that most of those vehicles launched
into the market after 2010 will likely
www.batteriesinternational.com
STRAINING AT LITHIUM'S LIMITS
Three recent extracts from reports
coming from the US Department
of Energy suggests that there is
a certain lack of joined up think-
ing about what the politicians on
Capitol Hill may be giving out in
grants and what they realistically
can expect to get from them.
Point 1
“The widespread deployment of
electric vehicles has been prevented
to date by their limited range and
high upfront capital costs due to
the limitations of currently avail-
able battery technologies.
Currently available high perform-
ance Lithium-ion battery tech-
nologies are limited to system level
energy densities of ~100-120 Wh/
kg, costs of $800-$1200/kWh,
and short cycle life, resulting in
unacceptably short driving range
for the vast majority of consum-
ers and un-economically high life-
time costs for electric vehicles.
Point 2
“The US Department of Energy’s
Office of Vehicle Technologies (OVT)
and the United States Advanced
Battery Consortium (USABC) have
provided critical support for the
development of advanced Lithium-ion
batteries to enable widespread cost-
effective deployment of hybrid electric
vehicles (HEVs), with a 2010 goal to
enable high performance Lithium-ion
HEV power batteries at $20/kW.
With this impressive goal nearly
accomplished, these US battery R&D
funding organizations are now turn-
ing their focus toward their 2014 goal
"Lithium batteries are best suited to small
applications—hearing aids, cell phone, lap top,
and maybe the electric bike. The chemistries offer
much potential until you try to get big. The use of
batteries in the electric vehicle is reaching the limit
of feasibility.”
be powered by lithium-ion battery
packs.
However most industry observers
note that the still emerging market
faces severe competition among vari-
ous players as cell manufacturers, bat-
tery module integrators, and vehicle
manufacturers begin to form strategic
partnerships and joint ventures. A
proliferation of partnerships between
of increasing the energy density and
decreasing the cost of Lithium-ion
batteries for PHEVs to enable battery
systems with energy densities of 140
Wh/kg to provide 40 miles of all elec-
tric range (PHEV-40) at a total battery
cost of $3,400 or less (<$300/kWh).
With this ambitious six year
PHEV-40 program, the DOE OVT and
USABC are pushing up against the
fundamental energy density limits of
traditional Lithium-ion based batteries.
Point 3
“There are strong doubts in the bat-
tery community as to whether the
energy density of Lithium-ion bat-
teries will be able to be pushed to
the 200+ Wh/kg system level energy
densities required for widespread
deployment of all-electric vehicles.
Furthermore, with current HEV bat-
tery production and Lithium-ion bat-
tery production dominated by Japan,
South Korea, and to a growing
extent China, there are doubts as to
whether traditional Lithium-ion based
battery production for electrified vehi-
cles offers an opportunity for the US
to assert domestic technology and
manufacturing leadership within the
context of the existing Lithium-ion
based battery technology platform.
For these reasons, and given the
strong existing focus of the Depart-
ment of Energy Office of Vehicle
Technologies and the USABC
on Lithium-ion battery technolo-
gies, ARPA-E has strong interest
in supporting the development of
new high energy, low cost battery
technology approaches beyond
traditional Lithium-ion batteries."
car and battery makers, labs and
system integrators may prove game
changing for the entire industry.
Already there have been partner-
ships between Johnson Controls and
Saft, NEC and Nissan, Toshiba and
Volkswagen, Toyota and Panasonic,
Tesla and Panasonic, Honda and GS
Yuasa (which is also in a different
joint venture with Mitsubishi/Lithium
Batteries International Winter 2010 45
ALL THINGS LITHIUM: THE US PERSPECTIVE
Energy Japan), A123 and Fisker, with
more planned. And we’ll see more
strategic acquisitions of cell makers
and battery electronics suppliers by
vehicle makers, such as Daimler’s
recent acquisitions in LI-Tec/Evonik.
GM’s embrace of the LG Chem
cells — and tangentially the concept
of making their own lithium-ion
batteries cells in-house — is unique
among major automakers, many of
whom have entered into joint-venture
deals with battery producers. Such an
approach may limit an automaker’s
ability to access new cells and chemis-
tries, however.
GM says it will continue to grow
and establish a robust line-up of bat-
tery suppliers for cell development
and manufacturing with companies
such as A123Systems and Hitachi
and battery integration expertise with
companies such as Compact Power
and Cobasys.
Maintaining working relationships
with a variety of companies allows
GM to take advantage of new pos-
sibilities on the cell side, while con-
tinuing to optimize its manufacturing
techniques, much in the way that
engine and power train optimization
and manufacturing has progressed
over the years.
International perspective
The Frost & Sullivan report offers
some stark realities for North Ameri-
can and European makers only now
entering the game. Thanks largely to
their well established manufacturing
infrastructure and longer experience
in providing consumer solutions, the
South Korean, Japanese, and Chinese
A proliferation of partnerships between car and
battery makers, labs and system integrators may
prove game changing for the entire industry.
manufacturers dominate the Li-ion
marketplace.
North American and European com-
panies thus face fierce competition for
lithium-ion phosphates from Asian
suppliers offering lithium-ion man-
ganese chemistries. That Asian com-
panies are also investing heavily in
advanced materials such as nanofabric
electrodes and nonmaterial structures
only strengthens their expertise in Li-
ion batteries.
In the US, government subsidies,
incentives and stimulus funding have
been crucial in supporting battery
makers as they ramp up R&D and
manufacturing capacity, but North
American companies are starting from
behind in a catch-up game.
Reasons not to be cheerful
A December 2009 report from the
US National Research Council asserts
that the high costs of light-duty plug-
in hybrid electric vehicles are not
likely to decrease significantly in the
near future.
The authors expect the manufactur-
ers’ cost to produce the first genera-
tion of the PHEV-10 (2010–2012) will
cost about $6,300 more than that of
the equivalent conventional mid-size
car (non-hybrid), including $3,300
for the battery pack. Similarly, they
expect a PHEV-40 with a $14,000
battery pack will cost about $18,100
more. (The DOE had concluded that
lithium-ion batteries will not be cost-
effective in HEVs or PHEVs until the
cost of batteries drops significantly, as
in 50-75%.)
The report expects costs to decline
with technological improvements and
economies of scale, but Li-ion batter-
ies, already being produced in great
numbers for consumer devices, are
well along their learning curves.
Steep cost drops often experienced
with new technologies are not likely
in electric drive train applications. The
cost to manufacture these vehicles is
expected to decline by about one-third
by 2020 but only slowly thereafter.
The National Research Council
report also suggests that the DOE’s
price objectives are overly optimistic,
and unlikely to be reached by target
dates or even for a significant time
beyond.
Clearly lithium battery technology
has come a long way in only a few
years. But whether or not lithium bat-
teries ever achieve prime time status
in electric or hybrid vehicles, they
have been crucial in launching unprec-
edented levels of coordinated efforts
and funding, public and private.
The automotive and battery indus-
tries are finally breaking out of their
long-established dance of giving-and-
taking orders to form strong, innova-
tive and productive partnerships. ■

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46 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

CONFERENCE
IN PRINT

A letter from the publisher

Welcome to a new section of our magazine,

called Conference in Print.

Our aim is a simple one. We want to offer you the

readers a section where you can highlight your
products, technology and skills to our broader
audience — rather like going to a conference or
an exhibition without the inconvenience of all
the travel!

We’re putting no restrictions on what you’d like

to showcase — this is your section not ours
— but hope that this will prove an invaluable
and cost-effective way to reach our audience of
subscribers and readers.

Let me know what you think!

With warmest regards

Don Cleary
Publisher
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMPETITIVENESS
Unprecedented volumes of money being invested in new energy storage
technologies in the US doesn’t necessarily mean that the country’s batteries
industry will automatically be a global winner. Krysten Oats and Phyl Speser
from research firm Foresight outline the issues at stake.

Patent power is
a survival skill
In 2009, Foresight, a market research
and technology commercialization
company, conducted a preliminary
assessment of the competitiveness of
US battery manufacturers selling lith-
ium-ion, nickel metal hydride, and
advanced lead acid batteries, as well
as ultracapacitors into the electric and
hybrid vehicle market in comparison
with manufacturers doing so else-
where in the world.
The premise of the assessment was
that the core factor influencing long-
term competitiveness would be access
to, and freedom to operate with,
advanced technology.
The reason for this assumption is
that current automotive batteries are
widely acknowledged to be inadequate.
They are too costly to make all-electric
vehicles affordable. They take hours to
recharge and can only support electric
vehicles with limited driving ranges as
compared to gasoline or diesel engines
that can be refuelled in minutes and use
fossil fuel to store enough energy to sup-
port our current driving habits.
Thus, we wanted insight as to
whether patent analysis is useful for
determining which firms were likely
to be leaders in developing the next
generation of transportation batteries
for hybrid and electric vehicles.
Our findings suggest that it is.
One way to gather insight into com-
petitiveness is to look at known chal-
lenges in creating advanced energy stor-
age devices and ask who owns the
technology relevant for addressing those
challenges. As a first step in our analysis
we reviewed the literature to identify
performance goals for, and challenges
facing batteries and ultracapacitors.
Using the method of functional
decomposition, we developed models
of the risks as related to product per-
formance.
In these models, we view each risk
to be as important as the others. The
reason for this simplifying assumption
is that batteries and ultracapacitors
are integrated systems of components
and materials, and the precise way in
which each company addresses the
integration will affect the significance
of a particular risk for them.
Without more data, we considered it
prudent to simply determine the extent
to which each company is addressing
known risks.
The risk models can be viewed at
the Foresight Energy Storage Supply
Chain Portal at http://batteries.fore-
sightst.com. There you will find func-
tional decompositions that address
device-level, component-level, and
materials challenges for a number of
chemistries.
You will also find a searchable cata-
logue of companies in the energy
storage industry; some are seeking to
obtain technology, others are seeking
to sell or license technology.
In addition, we provide market infor-
mation and news relevant for energy
storage companies addressing trans-
portation and utility markets. This
site is partially supported by the US
Department of Energy, so there is no
access fee. We are enhancing the site
to include models of more advanced
energy storage chemistries and to pro-
vide a no cost on-line marketplace
for out-licensing and selling emerging
technology relevant to energy storage.
Before we summarize our findings,
we would like to make a note about
manufacturing. Advanced energy stor-
age has penetrated industry and thus
the ease and cost of manufacturing

Conclusions of cmpany business competitiveness ranked according to Foresight criteria

Most competitive Moderately competitive Least competitive Not enough information
LG Chem./Compact Power Inc A123 Systems Shenzhen BAK Battery APowerCap
Johnson Controls BYD Auto Company Quallion Continental AG
Maxwell Technologies East Penn Manufacturing EEStor
Panasonic EV Energy Electrovaya ESMA
Saft Groupe EnerDel Hitachi Vehicle Energy
Exide NEC Lamilion
GS Yuasa NessCap
Source: Foresight Kokam Co. Phostech Lithium

48 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMPETITIVENESS
cannot be ignored. We have been for-
tunate to have toured several US facto-
ries and had the opportunity to discuss
the issue of manufacturability.
Unfortunately, such tours were pro-
vided only after agreeing to keep any
specific information confidential. Suf-
fice to say, we came to the conclusion
that while technology is obviously
important, the competitiveness issue
here is more one of hiring good people
and defining corporate culture than it
is an issue of technology.
The firms we toured are designing
their own manufacturing equipment
in consultation with their vendors.
If there is a competitiveness issue for
the US, it is that its machine tool and
robotics industry is weak in this area.
Several states (for example, Ohio,
Rhode Island, etc.) are starting to
position themselves as homes for such
equipment vendors.
For our first attempt at assessing
competitiveness, our technical risk
analysis, we focused on access to
device-level technologies (ie batteries
or cells) as evidenced by company
assignee-status on relevant patents or
patent applications.
We used Delphion for patent search-
ing, as this gave us the ability to
Patent landscape by energy storage device component
NessCap
Shenzhen BAK Battery
BYD Company
LG Chem/CPI
Kokam
Panasonic EV Energy
NEC Lamilion
Hitachi Vehicle Energy
GS Yuasa
ESMA Company
APowerCap
Company name
Continental Teves
Saft Groupe
Electrovaya
Phostech Lithium
Maxwell Technologies
EEStor
Quallion
Exide Technologies
Johnson Controls
Enerdel
East Penn Manufacturing
A123
0 50
www.batteriesinternational.com
While technology is obviously important, the
competitiveness issue here is more one of hiring
good people and defining corporate culture than it
is an issue of technology
search across a range of global pat-
ent databases, simultaneously. As we
did not weight the importance of the
risks identified at the device-level, this
assessment is based upon the follow-
ing assumptions: those manufactur-
ers with the most risks addressed are
likely to have a better competitive
advantage in the long-term; more rel-
evant intellectual property (IP) is bet-
ter than less.
We further assume that manufactur-
ers having patents addressing risks
where industry goals have been set are
more likely to be able to meet those
goals in the short and medium term
than manufacturers without such pat-
ents, and thus the manufacturers with
such patents have better competitive-
ness in the short and medium term.
Note that we may be missing critical
data because first, the manufacturer
may not appear as the assignee but
may still control the IP via licence,
separator
electrolyte
anode
cathode
electrode
battery
"energy storage"
100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Number of patents (2004-2009)
contract, or other means, and second,
they may not control the IP but may
still benefit from it through procure-
ment of products from the vendor that
does control it.
IP that addresses industrial goals
that have been set (by consensus or
otherwise) is likely to be relevant, and
thus ownership of such IP enhances
competitiveness.
By evaluating the total number of
patents identified, the total number
of risks addressed without associated
industry goals, and the total number
of industry goal-associated risks
addressed, a measure of relative tech-
nical competitiveness of each manu-
facturer can be achieved. This method
doubly counts some patents, but that
is intentional, on the grounds that pat-
ents addressing risks where goals exist
are more important (although whether
they are twice as important, or other-
wise weighted, we cannot tell).
We calibrated this compet-
itiveness measure against a
scoring of the manufacturers’
financial and business com-
petitiveness. If the market
works correctly, financially
stable, growing companies
addressing a wide range of
industry-identified risks will
become more dominant in
the industry than will their
competitors.
For this market analysis,
we reviewed information in
the on-line investment lit-
erature to estimate the likely
business competitiveness of
the companies, assuming
that the number of favour-
able references was a rough
approximation of competi-
tiveness.
If the argument above is
accepted, the following com-
panies may be considered
most competitive for device-
level development in the glo-
bal advanced energy stor-
age industry, based on their
access to relevant advanced
energy storage technology.
• Panasonic EV Energy
• GS Yuasa
• LG Chem./Compact Power Inc.
• A123
Batteries International Winter 2010 49
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMPETITIVENESS
• BYD Company Yuasa tied in our technical analysis advanced energy storage industry, the
• EnerDel scoring, the market analysis (summa- rankings are as follows:
• Hitachi Vehicle Energy rized in the table on page 48) indicated 1 Asia
• Maxwell Technologies that Panasonic EV Energy was the 2 United States
• NEC Lamilion more competitive of the two based on 3= Europe
• Quallion the available financial and business 3= Canada
• APowerCap data. Thus, Panasonic EV Energy is
• Continental Teves ranked ahead of GS Yuasa. This technical risk analysis conclu-
• EEStor The charts included here summarize sion is generally supported by the
• Electrovaya the international patent landscape and market analysis.
• Exide Technologies energy storage chemistry focus as iden- The market analysis suggests that
• Johnson Controls tified via our technical risk analysis. Asia and the US are tied in terms of
• Kokam We also applied the same set of business competitiveness, followed by
• NessCap assumptions from the company com- Europe. It also indicates that the US
• Phostech Lithium petitiveness assessment to the geo- has a higher competitiveness standing
• Saft Groupe graphic regions assessed. Listed from than indicated by the technical risk
most competitive to least competitive analysis, and that Canada has a lower
While Panasonic EV Energy and GS for device development in the global competitiveness standing than indi-
cated by the technical analysis.
Patent portfolio distribution by chemistry Europe seems as if it holds the middle
ground in both the market and techni-
cal analyses. While the US, Europe and
Canada tied in our technical analysis
Lithium-ion or lith- Nickel metal hydride scoring, the market analysis indicated
ium and secondary that the US was the more competitive of
the three based on the available finan-
Lead acid or Ultracapacitor or cial and business data.
advanced lead acid supercapacitor Thus, the US is ranked ahead of
Europe and Canada for overall regional
competitiveness. Since the analyses do
not fully correlate, considering the tied
competitiveness scores, further research
NessCap is necessary to determine more exactly
Shenzhen BAK Battery the competitive positions of each
BYD Company region.
LG Chem/CPI We shall be extending our analy-
Kokam sis to look at patents and applica-
Panasonic EV Energy tions for energy storage device-level,
component-level, and material tech-
NEC Lamilion
nologies. We shall be breaking out
Hitachi Vehicle Energy the analysis by chemistry as well as
GS Yuasa presenting aggregated findings such as
those presented above. Our intention
ESMA Company is to extend the analysis by looking
APowerCap
at industrial co-authors on papers
in referred journals as well. We also
Continental Teves
hope to extend the analysis to include
Saft Groupe universities and other research insti-
Company name

tutions providing technology to the

Electrovaya advanced energy storage arena. ■
Phostech Lithium
Phyl Speser is director of Foresight’s
Maxwell Technologies Energy Storage Supply Chain Project.
EEStor Krysten Oates, krysten.oates@foresightst.
Quallion com, is deputy director of the project. The
Exide Technologies authors wish to gratefully acknowledge
Johnson Controls funding for this research provided by the
Enerdel US Department of Energy and Foresight
East Penn Manufacturing Science & Technology. We caution that
A123 the views expressed in this document
are those of the authors alone, who
0% 50% 100% are solely responsible for the content,
and in no way reflect the opinions or
views of the US Department of Energy
Total patents
or Foresight Science & Technology.

50 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
The debate over the viability of electric vehicles — and their hype — has
obscured a more significant trend in future battery use, the rise of the electric
two-wheeler. Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx, reveals some of the
findings of the research firm’s most recent report.

Four wheels good,

two wheels better
With electric cars employing energy
harvesting in shock absorbers, regen-
erative braking and photovoltaics on
the roof, attention is turning to two
wheel electric vehicles, starting with
regenerative braking in electric motor-
cycles.
Indeed, the rapid advances in the
rechargeable batteries for two wheel-
ers — lead acid plus some NiMH and
lithium but with zinc air now a serious
prospect — has lessons for rechargeable
batteries used for energy harvesting.
Two wheel electric vehicles have a
bright future with sales already a mag-
nitude higher than the numbers for any
other type of EV.
IDTechEx forecasts for 2010 and
remain huge. Over 200 million two
wheel vehicles are made yearly in the
world, so only about 12% of new two
wheelers delivered each year are electric
so far. Of the total number out there,
electric versions constitute only a few
percent.
Annual production of all types of
bicycle has declined in most years
since 1995 but, within those figures,
two wheel electric vehicles have grown
rapidly in both numbers sold and
market value from 1995, reaching just
China is key to electric
bicycle sales and
over 20 million vehicles in 2005.
After that, sales of electric two wheel-
ers have grown more slowly, remaining
almost totally reliant on sales of price
sensitive electric bicycles commonly
known as e-bikes, mostly with old fash-
ioned lead acid batteries. That is about
to change.
China is key to electric bicycle sales
and production just as it is key to
bicycle sales and production. In 2000,
China became world leader in produc-
tion and use of electric bicycles, over-
taking Japan which did the pioneering
of both manufacture and use, with
its market peaking in 1997 and only
partly recovering by 2003.

2014 are as follows. They show 32%
growth of value market partly because
the average unit price actually rises. This
is because the larger, more powerful two
wheelers and the new designer versions
start to sell in volume and therefore the
mix changes.
China-centric export boom
The action is moving beyond China.
Already, more than 170 nations are
buying e-bikes from China, according
to the Chinese Bicycle Association CBA.
Exports from China are booming.
In the new report “Electric Vehicles
2010-2020”, IDTechEx reports, “We
do not see the Chinese demand for
two wheelers growing as rapidly in the
next decade because there is likely to
be firmer legislation that impedes sales
by requiring tax and insurance on the
larger e-bikes.
“Sales of basic e-bikes are already
growing less strongly in the country.
However, other newer types will grow
substantially in sales, such as hybrid and
later pure electric motorcycles in many
countries, including China. The new
hybrid two wheel scooters also have a
bright future.”
For all this success, the potential will
www.batteriesinternational.com
production just as it is Rapid growth
key to bicycle sales and The Chinese market for electric two
wheelers was estimated by CycleE-
production lectric International as being about 1
million units annually in 2001. This
rocketed to about 20 million in 2005
then it grew more modestly to around
Number in millions 21 million in 2009. There are about
2400 companies in China that are
$ billion value involved in some way with supplying
electric bikes or electric bike compo-
nents according to CycleElectric.
30 Sanyo expects the recent recovery in
27.52 Japanese sales to take the figure from
24.45 315,000 in 2008 to 400,000 in 2011,
25
still a tiny proportion of sales in China,
albeit at higher prices. In Japan, the
20 laws concerning two people riding one
electric bicycle have been eased. Accord-
ing to some reports, sales of e-bikes have
15 been growing 50% yearly in the US but
that is from a small base.
10 Accordingly, in 2010, China still pro-
duces and uses over 90% of the electric
$6.3bn
$4.79bn two wheelers in the world, this total
5 market primarily comprising e-bikes,
e-scooters and e-motorbikes.
0 We are entering a new growth phase
2010 2014 partly driven by e-motorbikes becoming
affordable and performing more impres-
Projected two wheel sales: 2010-2014 sively. For example, the Mission Motors
Batteries International Winter 2010 51
INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
Mission One pure electric motorcycle, Honda EV-Cub is a hybrid scooter. speed of the mainstream affordable
produced in the US, achieves 150 mph Xtreme Scooters of China has had good two wheelers are improving gradually
(242 km/h) and other cycles have a reviews of its new hybrid versions. Huge thanks to lithium batteries and other
150 mile (242 km) range. The Killacy- new government grants and tax breaks innovations. For example, the Xtreme
cle, also from the USA, has even more have a part in this trend. XM 5000Li scooter can manage 85
impressive acceleration and top speed, Interchina Industry Group manufac- miles (130 km) and 60 mph (96 km/h).
because it is aimed at record breaking tures a foldable electric bike attractive The Peugeot E-Vivacity pure electric
not volume sales. in China because most bicycles are scooter from France, being launched
The first all-electric motorcycle race used for commuting to work. This is a in 2010, has a range of 50 to 60 miles
has taken place on the Isle of Man in hybrid. It uses a 70cc petrol engine and (81-96 km), an improvement on earlier
the UK, famous for the TT races. The an electric motor to propel the wheels, unsuccessful models, thanks to a lithium
winning vehicle is being put into pro- and has a maximum speed of 76 mph battery.
duction. Those now seeking to break (120 km/h). As with fuel cell powered cars, fuel
records with motorcycles make electric Some two wheel electric vehicles cell powered two wheelers remain a
ones. resemble a child’s push scooter because triumph of hope over reality though
the driver stands on the tiny machine. perhaps their day will come.
Designer bikes Some of these fold to go in a car: The UK company Intelligent Energy
As with cars, vibrant niches of very indeed some cars have been supplied worked with Suzuki to create the Cross-
high performance and specialist vehi- with them. Now the larger Tronix Ebike cage Fuel Cell Motorbike and, in 2009,
cles are emerging. Designer two wheel- Exceed, entering production in 2010, there followed the Suzuki Burgman Fuel
ers command high prices. Mostly they folds to become small enough to fit in Cell Scooter. For 10 years, many compa-
are motorcycles and here the Chinese trunk of small car. nies have shown fuel cell demonstrators.
are laggards as yet. For instance, Zero As with pure electric cars, range and The problems are the same as those with
Motorcycles in the US now has a pre-
mium priced, high performance electric
dirt bike. Yamaha has just launched
a top of the range carbon composite
e-bike in Japan. Meanwhile, Honda
is launching an electric motorcycle for
postal and pizza deliveries and other
commercial uses in 2010.
The new growth phase is particu-
larly influenced by hybrid two wheelers,
notably scooters and motorcycles, enter-
ing volume production.
These appeal because they have
greatly superior range to pure electric
two wheelers combined with better fuel
economy and emissions than conven-
tional equivalents, mimicking the suc-
cessful hybrid cars. For example, Eko
Vehicles in India announced a range of
hybrid scooters in 2009 and the planned
And now for something completely
different, the Honda U-3X. A single
lithium ion battery powers the electric
motors for up to an hour with a maximum
speed of around 7 km/h (4 mph).

52 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
CHINA:
THE NEW MOBILITY
• Up to 120 million eBikes are on the
roads in China
• Approx 21 million eBikes were sold
in China in 2008
• Nearly a third of Chinese
manufactured eBikes are for
export.
• Some 1,000+ firms manufacture
these eBikes in China.
• Typical maximum range: 50 km (30
miles)
• Typical maximum speed: 35 km/h
(20mph)
• Suzuki has recently released an
eScooter powered by fuel cells
Source: Batteries International staff
other fuel cell powered vehicles. They
include funding the necessary fuelling
infrastructure, safety, start up time and
complexity.
For example, a high performance bat-
tery is still needed. Volume sales of fuel
cell powered two wheel vehicles remain
many years away.
www.batteriesinternational.com
The technology of electric two wheel-
ers is very varied with much use of lead
acid and of lithium batteries of many
chemistries and even some nickel metal
hydride.
The second generation lithium batter-
ies are inherently chemically safe and
new advances are announced all the
time. The main technology trend is
the increasing use of lithium batteries
because of their smaller size and weight,
better performance, increasing afforda-
bility and freedom from Chinese control
of lanthanum supplies. Lanthanum is a
worry with nickel metal hydride batter-
ies and rationing has already begun.
Regenerative braking is increasingly
seen on most types of two wheeler,
though the percentage is, as yet, small.
Fast charging is also increasingly feasi-
ble in the home or at stops on the jour-
ney. All that means that supercapac-
itors have a place with two wheelers
because fast charging and discharging
with batteries alone tends to mean
poorer energy storage.
Brushless motors of different types are
involved. Motors are various rated from
about 0.2 to 70kW for those designated
scooters or motorcycles by their manu-
facturers. Those at the bottom end of
that range have more in common with
e-bikes, however. In the mainstream are
motors delivering 8kW-10kW. Wheel-
embedded motors are gaining favour as
they are in cars, though from a minority
position.
Vietnam’s largest motorcycle manu-
facturer Sufat has just started produc-
tion of electric scooters that reach 50
mph (80 km/h) in under 10 seconds and
top speeds twice those of earlier models
thanks to new wheel-hub motors from
KLD Energy Technologies in the US.
The Segway with two wheels along-
side, relies on a gyroscope for balance.
The folding Yike Bike from New Zea-
land which enters production in 2010
has a large front wheel and a small one
in line behind. It also steers by body
movement but without the gyroscope.
There are many other innovations
coming along and most of them create
small, additional niche markets. Another
trend is the increasing number of manu-
facturers making many types of electric
vehicles, including two wheelers, and
sharing innovations between them. ■
For further information on
“Electric Vehicles 2010-2020”
visit www.idtechex. com.
Batteries International Winter 2010 53
UNSUNG HEROES: LEW URRY

It seems almost a footnote to the technological revolutions that consumed

the last century. But like fibre-optic cable and the microchip, the world
would be a much different place without the alkaline battery. Kevin
Desmond pays tribute to its pioneer.

Father of Alkaline
He’s the man behind that irritating
bunny on the telly.
Perhaps not the most glorious of trib-
utes for Lew Urry. But, in the minds of
most of the world, the creator of the
alkaline battery is forever linked with
the advertising campaign for the Ener-
gizer Bunny. In it a frenetic rabbit runs
round and round banging a drum and
the slogan reads “the Energizer Bunny
… he keeps going and going.”
A more fitting tribute might be to
call him the “father of the alkaline
battery” — some 80% of all dry cell
batteries used in the world are based
on his work. His inventions were to
prove crucial to the later development
of camcorders, cell phones, laptop
computers, and other battery-depend-
ent devices.
Lewis Urry was born on Janu-
ary 29, 1927 in Pontypool, then a
remote backwater north of Oshawa in
Ontario, Canada. His ancestors origi-
nally hailed from the Isle of Wight in
England.
He developed his interest in all-
things mechanical at an early age. In
particular while helping his father,
Oman Urry, tinker with cars in his
local garage. His father was credited
with having sold the first Ford Model
T in the area when he operated a
garage in Beaverton.
Between 1946 to 1949, Lew served
in the Royal Canadian Army, later
achieving the rank of captain in the
Army Reserve. He then read for and
obtained degree in chemical engineer-
ing at the University of Toronto in
1950.
A few months later, in July, he went
to work in an office at the Union “Our car went several lengths of this long
Carbide Corporation (later Eveready), cafeteria,” he said, “but the other car barely
on Davenport Road in Toronto. He
was — effectively — to work for the moved. Everybody was coming out of their labs
firm for the rest of his life only step-
ping down from work months before
to watch. They were all oohing and aahing and
he died. cheering.” Eventually spectators got so bored
Urry showed an immediate aptitude at with the successful car going and going that they
his job where the diligent application of
his ideas and methods quickly attracted went back to work.
54 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com
UNSUNG HEROES: LEW URRY
senior management attention.
His chance to prove himself came in
1955. That year Urry was dispatched
across the border to the company’s
battery research laboratory in Parma,
southwest of Cleveland, Ohio. His
mission: to discover a way of extend-
ing the life span of the carbon-zinc
battery. Toys ran on them in those
days, but their short life-span had
been seriously damaging sales. Urry
realized that developing a new bat-
tery would be more cost-effective than
developing the old ones further.
Throughout the 1950s many engi-
neers had experimented with alkaline
batteries but nobody had been able
to develop a longer running battery
which was worth the higher cost of
production.

Towards the Eureka moment

Urry began in a typically systematic The first Eveready alkaline batteries went on sale in 1959. They were labelled
fashion. First he made a mock-up alka- “Eveready Alkaline Energiser — the Long Life Power Cell.” The following year
line battery from an empty flashlight Energiser batteries started to be used in transistor radios, watches and hearing aids
shaft. Into this he was able to test a
number of materials that theoretically
should enhance any generated current.
He discovered that manganese dioxide
and solid zinc worked well coupled
with an alkaline substance as an elec-
trolyte. His main problem was that
the battery could not provide enough
power.
“My Eureka moment came when
I realised that using powdered zinc
would give more surface area,” he
later recalled.
His Eureka moment, however,
needed to be shown in practice. And
with a flash of marketing pizzazz he
decided to sell the idea to his boss
and other managers with a full scale
demonstration.
Urry rushed to a local toy store and
bought two battery-operated model
cars. Into the first he put a conven-
tional D-cell battery and in the other with a standard battery and one with batteries started to be used in transis-
his mock-up alkaline battery. With RL an alkaline battery, then he left the tor radios, watches and hearing aids,
Glover, the Eveready vice president flashlights on overnight. The next Lew Urry married Beverly Ann Car-
of technology, watching, Urry set the morning, only the alkaline-powered lock and so became a US citizen. By
cars loose on the floor of the factory flashlight was still glimmering. the time of his death, they had had
cafeteria. “That was it,” Urry later said. “At three sons, two daughters, 15 grand-
“Our car went several lengths of that point, the whole lab was put on children and one great grand-child.
this long cafeteria,” he said, “but the the alkaline project.” But the test of time can be a source
other car barely moved. Everybody for further improvement. The mass-
was coming out of their labs to watch. Here come the bunnies ... production of alkaline batteries faced
They were all oohing and aahing Within days of Urry’s and Glover’s problems with cell-venting and leak-
and cheering.” Eventually spectators demonstrations the whole production age. As they rolled off the assembly
got so bored with the successful car line making the previous batteries was line, some began to smoke and others
going and going that they went back discarded and Eveready began produc- to explode with a popcorn sound. For
to work. tion of Urry’s design at its Asheboro six months a team of scientists were
But the sales pitch still had to go factory in North Carolina. stationed at Asheboro sorting out the
the length of the organization. Glover The first Eveready alkaline batter- manufacturing problems.
later provided his own demonstration ies went on sale in 1959. They were Their names should be included in
of Urry’s alkaline battery to an execu- labelled “Eveready Alkaline Energiser this story — Hal Hirt, Walt Rauske,
tive in the products division in New — the Long Life Power Cell.” Jerry Winger and Bob Scarr. For
York City: He loaded one flashlight The following year, with Energiser example one of Jerry Winger’s most
www.batteriesinternational.com Batteries International Winter 2010 55
UNSUNG HEROES: LEW URRY
significant contributions was a sealant
to eliminate leakage of the alkaline
element.
In 1962 Lew was transferred to the
Edgeware Development Laboratory.
Several years later, Philip Mallory
— the founder of the firm that is now
known as Duracell — and Sam Ruben
switched their batteries from the more
troublesome mercury-alkaline system
to the alkaline version that had been
devised by Urry.
In 1980 the brand was renamed
Energizer. Since then, chemical
improvements have made them 40
times longer-lasting than the ones that
went on sale in 1959.

Still at work in his 70s

Eventually Lew Urry was transferred
to the Westlake Technology Lab near
Cleveland where he continued to inno-
vate with carbon/zinc and magnesium
cells, but also with thionyl chloride/
lithium cells contributing key ideas to
cell designs as well as in other areas of
non-aqueous batteries. In December
1998 he was named the laboratory's
senior technology fellow. Perhaps not the most glorious of tributes for Lew Urry — but in the minds of most
Following his wife Beverly’s death of the world the creator of the alkaline battery is forever linked with the advertising
in 1993, Lew lived in Eaton Town- campaign for the Energizer Bunny.
ship, a rural community in Lorain
County, Ohio. In addition to being a
proud grandfather of an ever-increas-
ing number, he had ample room to Despite the presence of Urry’s creation in houses
pursue his hobbies of gardening and
auto repair.
everywhere, he never became a household
In 1999, 40 years on, Urry donated name. “He took special pride around Christmas,
his first prototype battery, along with
the first commercially produced cylin-
when there was a rush for batteries,” Steven Urry,
drical battery, to the Smithsonian his son, told a local newspaper after his father’s
Institution. Both cells are now dis-
played in the same room as Thomas
death.
Alva Edison’s light bulb.
Despite the presence of Urry’s crea-
tion in houses everywhere, he never
became a household name. “He took
special pride around Christmas, when
there was a rush for batteries,” Steven
Urry, his son, told a local newspaper
after his father’s death.
By the time he retired, Urry had been
named as inventor and co-inventor in
51 patents. He died on October 19,
2004 after a short illness. He was 77
year old. He is buried in Butternut
Ridge Cemetery, in North Olmsted,
Ohio.
Not long before, Lew Urry told
a friend “I still have some break-
throughs on the horizon!” Indeed his
PHOTOCREDIT: JIM>

last patent was issued to him posthu-

mously in 2006.
In short, our unsung hero, was
rather like the unstoppable toy cars
and bunny rabbits that had made him
world famous. ■

56 Batteries International Winter 2010 www.batteriesinternational.com

WorldLead_FP_209x274_ad_3:209x274 16/02/2010 13:45 Page 1

2nd

World Lead
Conference | 19-21 April 2010
Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel
Dusseldorf

Living with higher and volatile prices – the new reality

Metal Bulletin Events’ inaugural lead conference in London in 2008 established a new forum for incisive and informative debate and comment.
Following on from this, in 2010 we take our 2nd World Lead Conference to Dusseldorf, in northern Europe’s industrial heartland, to examine
the key challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in this changing global marketplace.

• China’s lead battery industry: driving world demand
Prof Chen Hongyu, Dean of the School of Chemistry &
Environment, South China Normal University, China
• Can we expect to see more Magellans in the future? The economics
of mining lead per se?
Bruce Hooper, Vice President Exploration and Corporate
Development, Ivernia Inc, Canada
• Latin American lead: can Bolivia and Karachipampa help keep the
momentum going?
Roy Shipes, President, CEO & Chairman, Atlas Precious Metals, USA
• How viable is primary lead smelting in the 21st century? Strategies
for meeting change
Nikola Dobrev, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, KCM
Limited, Bulgaria
• An overview of lead supply and demand
Huw Roberts, Director, CHR Associates, UK
• Energy storage for tomorrow – lead is not dead
John Gagge, Senior Director Engineering and Quality Assurance,
EnerSys Americas, USA
• An update on environmental issues and challenges for the
lead industry
David Wilson, Director, Lead Development Association
International, UK
• The global trade in lead scraps and residues – responding to change
and challenge
Daniel Cheret, Managing Director, Campine Recycling, Belgium
• Lead usage in the auto sector – what prospects for growth in
existing applications?
Alex Woodrow, Head of Research, Knibb Gormezano &
Partners, UK
• The potential for using advanced lead/acid batteries in hybrid and
electric vehicles – an auto industry perspective
Eckhard Karden, Technical Expert Battery & Energy Storage
Technology, Ford Powertrain Research and Advanced Engineering,
Germany
• Technology innovations for lead recycling and processing – meeting
the economic and environmental challenge
Massimo Maccagni, Process and R&D Manager, Engitec
Technologies, Italy

Official publication

To register or for further information contact the Metal Bulletin Events team:
Tel: 44 (0) 20 7779 7999 Email: marketing@metalbulletin.com