February 2008

Quallion Honored by Frost & Sullivan

Based on its recent analysis of the lithium-ion power sources market for medical, military and aerospace applications, Frost & Sullivan has presented Quallion LLC of Palo Alto, California, with the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation. This award recognizes Quallion's electric battery assembly, solid polymer electrolyte, and Li-ion chemistry that offer a viable alternative to regular Li-ion batteries.

Quallion provides reduced battery volume and a brazed ceramic seal which offers safety to the cell while the ceramic material makes the device lightweight. "More of Quallion's Li-ion cells are implanted than any other manufacturer in the world," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Abhishek Dutta. "These batteries provide mission-critical reliability so that X-ray machines, monitoring devices, and other diagnostic equipment can be depended upon for fail-safe reliability at all times, even during a power failure."

The power systems function optimally in harsh conditions with maximum reliability. "With SaFE-LYTE™ and its specialized Matrix™ packaging technologies, Quallion's batteries can withstand piercing and compression that might otherwise cause combustion in Li-ion cells," notes Dutta. This technology also delivers unsurpassed energy density, a critical factor for customers seeking a power solution for small spacecrafts or needing to shift more of the satellite mass from battery to payload.

Solicore Partners with Tomoe Engineering

Solicore of Lakeland, Florida, has an agreement with Tomoe Engineering Co. Ltd. for distribution of Flexion batteries to select accounts in Japan. Tomoe is a multi-segmented, diversified pan-Asian trading company with distribution partnerships in countries all over the world, and will supply Flexion batteries primarily for RFID and prepaid card applications.

"Solicore's Flexion batteries are the only batteries we found that provide the necessary thinness and flexibility, making them an essential addition to our portfolio," says Tetsuo Yamada, general manager of the Electronics Material Department at Tomoe.

"Tomoe offers Solicore an insider's point-of-view to this challenging market, providing invaluable knowledge and assistance to determine where and how Flexion batteries should be positioned in this arena," says James P. McDougall, Solicore's executive vice president of battery sales and business development.

VIASPACE Receives Initial Test Station Order

VIASPACE Inc. of Pasadena, California, has received an initial order for its new Electrochemical Thermodynamics Measurement System (ETMS) from Battelle Pacific Northwest Division.

"Our newest Caltech license grants VIASPACE the exclusive rights to several new patents covering an instrument that accurately measures the electrochemical thermodynamics in batteries. Our initial ETMS instrument measures the thermodynamics as they develop in the charge and discharge cycles of lithium batteries," says Dr. Carl Kukkonen, the company's CEO.

"The initial ETMS system is designed to aid the research and development staffs of companies and government labs struggling to get accurate readings on the performance and volatility of various battery chemistries," says Kukkonen. "There is a strong possibility that the next ETMS model, targeted for introduction later in 2008, will also serve as a quality assurance instrument in screening finished Model 18650 lithium batteries in the production environment."

Boston-Power Receives Funding

Boston-Power Inc., a Westborough, Massachusetts-based provider of first-to-market portable power solutions, has received $45 million in new funding. The Series C round was led by Oak Investment Partners and included existing blue-chip investors Venrock Associates, Granite Global Ventures and Gabriel Venture Partners.

Boston-Power will use the new capital to scale business development, marketing, research and development, and manu-facturing operations to meet strong global demand for Sonata, its next-generation Li-ion battery technology for notebook computers. The company also signed a manufacturing partnership with GP Batteries, the top battery manufacturer in Asia outside Japan and tenth largest battery manufacturer.

"Now that we're shipping product, our success is driven by our ability to implement well on a fast-growing, multibillion dollar market opportunity," says Boston-Power founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud.

CPI Awarded USABC Li-ion Development Contract

Compact Power, Inc. (CPI), reports that its proposal to develop lithium-ion battery technology for plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEV) has been approved by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC). The contract will be for a 27-month period to develop batteries for 10-mile range PHEVs using high energy and high power manganese-spinel cathode chemistry. CPI's contract is valued at $12.9 million, with $4.5 million funded through a cost share by the USABC.

"This is our fifth and largest development contract with USABC since 2002," said Prabhakar Patil, CEO, CPI. "Our combined efforts are leading the way toward establishing lithium-ion as a viable battery technology for powering hybrid-electric vehicles in North America while at the same time safeguarding the environment."

QinetiQ, Ricardo To Reduce Li-ion Cost

QinetiQ and Ricardo have embarked on a two-year collaborative project part-funded by the U.K. Department for Transport, to dramatically reduce the costs of Li-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles. The Reduced Cost Li-ion (RED-LION) project will demonstrate the application of new Li-ion cell chemistry in a hybrid vehicle battery with a production cost one-third of conventional battery technologies and half the weight.

In June 2006 Ricardo, QinetiQ and PSA Peugeot-Citroën unveiled their 100g/km CO2 Efficient-C full hybrid diesel demonstrator vehicle based on a Citroën Berlingo Multispace. While this vehicle provided superior performance, the project partners estimated that its manufacturing cost needed to be reduced 50% for the technology to become commercially viable.

If successful, the RED-LION project will demonstrate commercially viable technologies that are capable of delivering sub-100g/km CO2 emissions with performance superior to the equivalent current production vehicle.

EnerSys Awarded Contract for Submarine Batteries

EnerSys Energy Products Inc. has received an initial contract award from the U.S. Navy to produce valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries using its thin plate pure lead (TPPL) technology. The award represents 100% of the U.S. Navy's 2007 solicitation to retrofit the entire nuclear submarine fleet with VRLA batteries in place of the legacy flooded lead-acid batteries. This is the culmination of a multi-million dollar multi-year cost shared partnership between EnerSys and the U.S. Navy. EnerSys will produce the batteries at its highly automated facility in Warrensburg, Missouri.

"Our TPPL technology will enable submarines to achieve longer run times while substantially reducting battery maintenance that motivated the U.S. Navy to start the conversion of its entire nuclear submarine fleet to VRLA batteries," says John Craig, chairman, president and CEO of EnerSys.

Matsushita Battery To Bolster Li-Ion Production

Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. in Japan plans to diversify and boost production of Li-ion batteries to avoid a repeat of the supply crunch after a fire at its headquarters factory in September. The company intends to spend ¥10 billion at its Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture site to construct a building with an 8-million unit monthly output capacity. The site currently makes Li-ion battery parts, but the new building, to be completed by May, will assemble, inspect and ship the batteries.

With a 15% market share, Matsushita is the third largest Li-ion battery manufacturer worldwide, after Sanyo Electric Co. and Sony Corp. The factory at the Osaka headquarters accounts for 80% of the company's total monthly output capacity of 25 million units. The headquarters factory partially resumed operation November 1.

US Hybrid Receives ISO Certification

US Hybrid Corp. of Torrance, California, has received ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality management systems. The scope of registration is design, prototyping, manufacture and service support of electric and hybrid drive systems and renewable energy.

During the past years, US Hybrid has been developing and implementing formal processes and inspection criteria for its production, prototype and service activities. By adopting the requirements within the standard, the company has been able to improve the quality and reliability of its products. US Hybrid supplies integrated power conversion components to leading manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicle and fuel cell power systems.

Ultralife Forms Fuel Cell Development Partnership

Ultralife of Newark, New York, has entered into a technology partnership with Mississippi State University to develop fuel cell-battery portable power systems for lightweight, long endurance military missions. System development will be performed under a $1.6 million program awarded by a U.S. Defense Department agency to MSU, the prime contractor. Ultralife has been awarded $475,000 by MSU to participate as a subcontractor.

Ultralife will oversee the development, testing, approval and manufacturing of prototypes of a new compact military battery to be used with handheld tactical radios, building on its ongoing development work under the Land Warrior System Stryker Interoperable Program. The company will also provide engineering support, encompassing defining system requirements and performing design integration and testing tasks, to ensure successful demonstration of the system.

Under the technology partnership with MSU, Ultralife is establishing a development and assembly operation in a 14,000 square-foot facility in West Point, Mississippi. The facility is expected to create at least 30 manufacturing jobs and commence operations in the first half of this year.

BPL Plans to Manufacture Cellphone Batteries

BPL, based in Bangalore, plans to manufacture mobile phone batteries. The project details are being finalized and production is expected to go on stream by mid-2008. This is one of the areas on which the company will rely to stage a revival.

In its foray into the cellphone battery market, BPL is expected to use the alkaline battery manufacturing plant it has at Dobbespet, north of Bangalore.

Early this year, BPL split their battery business into a 50:50 joint venture with Australia's FTA to develop it. The deal fetched BPL close to Rs40 crore.

Currently, BPL has the capacity to churn out 10 million alkaline batteries a year and has been a major OEM exporter to global brands such as Kodak and Sanyo.

Battery Maker Tudor Expanding

Lead-acid battery manufacturer Tudor India, owner of the Prestolite brand of batteries for automotive and domestic use, is investing Rs24 crore to expand its capacity to one million units of batteries per annum from 600,000 units. Tudor India is a step-down subsidiary of U.S.-based Exide Technologies. Chloride Motive Power Batteries of U.K., a wholly owned subsidiary of Exide Technologies, holds 84% in Tudor.

Saft Li-Ion Batteries Power Horizons-2 Satellite

Saft Li-ion battery technology powered the Horizons-2 GEO satellite launched recently by an Ariane 5 GS launch vehicle from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Horizons-2, based on Orbital Sciences Corp.'s STAR-2 platform, is the sixth Orbital satellite in orbit to feature Saft Li-ion batteries. "The successful launch of Horizons-2 marks the 19th spacecraft to rely on Saft Li-ion batteries," says Thomas Alcide, Saft specialty battery group general manager.

The on-board batteries provide power for the spacecraft system during the two eclipse seasons per year when the solar panels are blocked from the sun. The Horizons-2 satellite is equipped with batteries based on Saft's space-proven VES140 Li-ion cells, each capable of delivering 40Ah.

Wind Farm Installs Storage Batteries

Japan Wind Development Co. is installing storage batteries at its wind farm under construction in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. The wind farm will have a 51,000kw power generation capacity. The firm will use NGK Insulators Ltd. sodium sulfur storage batteries with a 34,000kW total capacity and a cost of ¥10 billion in addition to the ¥13 billion construction costs.

By installing the batteries, Japan Wind will even out the wind farm's output by discharging electricity when the wind is slow, enabling its power to be sold via the Japan Electric Power Exchange and new power producers.

Time Technoplast Acquires Battery Firm

Time Technoplast Ltd. has acquired a 100% stake in Bahrain-based battery manufacturer Gulf Powerbeat WLL (GPW) for $10 million. The acquisition was made by the Mumbai-based company through its Hyderabad subsidiary NED Energy.

GPW, Bahrain has installed capacity for telecom/automotive batteries of up to 150mn AM with surplus capacity to produce vital battery components (grids and lead plates) of an additional 250mn AH.

Time Technoplast Ltd. (formerly Time Packaging Ltd.) offers a range of technology-based polymer products catering to the growing sectors of the Indian economy. Time Technoplast entered into the battery business last year through acquisition of NED Energy Ltd., a Hyderabad-based company, manufacturing valve regulated lead acid batteries mainly for the high growth telecom sector.

Parvus to Supply Batteries for F-22 Jet Fighter

Parvus Corp. in Salt Lake City, Utah, is building 185 smart battery units that provide redundant power to encryption/decryption equipment aboard the F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighter, under terms of a $3.56 million contract with Lockheed Martin of Fort Worth, Texas.

"The new CNI battery greatly improves mission readiness for the F-22, delivering more than a month of operation without a recharge," says Mike Simpson, Parvus director of aerospace and defense programs.