LTC Ships Second Prototype

Lithium Technology Corp. of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, delivered a second prototype lithium-ion polymer battery to the European Astor consortium under terms of a firm purchase order. The 42V module, produced by the company’s GAIA operating unit in Nordhausen, Germany, of which LTC’s President and COO Franz Kruger is CEO, has a battery management system and is to be tested for use in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) propulsion system, as the first prototype has been doing for nearly two years.

The Astor Project is part of the European Union and the Astor consortium, which consists of seven European auto manufacturers: VW, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Opel, Fiat, Volvo and Peugeot. The objective is to assess the suitability of lithium-ion polymer batteries for use in HEVs. BMW is responsible for procuring and testing the battery system at an independent testing institute.