July 2008

around the industry

Exide Secures New Military Contracts

Exide Technologies's industrial energy division in Europe has secured two new military contracts that include an expansion of the company's alliance with the German Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) to supply the German Army and a submarine battery contract with The Royal Netherlands Navy.

In conjunction with the BWB contract, Exide will supply approximately 9,600 NBB 248™ maintenance-free NATO bloc batteries to the German Army for military-vehicle applications, including the Leopard 2 Tank. These 12V/100Ah GEL™ batteries will be manufactured at Exide's manufacturing plant in Budingen, Germany, and shipped this year.

The Royal Netherlands Navy has awarded Exide a new contract for a HAGEN™ lead-acid battery that will serve as the main source of propulsion power for a Walrus-class submarine. The new order will be ready for shipment later this year. HAGEN submarine batteries are manufactured at the company's Industrial Energy manufacturing facility in Bad Lauterberg, Germany.

Solicore Fuels Global Smart Card Providers

Preeminent smart card provider Toppan Forms is turning to U.S.-based Solicore's proprietary Flexion® battery technology to power their products.

Solicore's unique Flexion battery technology has enabled suppliers, integrators and distributors to offer some of the world's most innovative and advanced smart card and RFID applications in a compact platform that can be sized and constructed for any host device. Toppan Forms, the Japanese market leaders in RFID manufacturing and various IC cards, provides complete solutions for authentication employing the innovative electronic paper display units developed by its partners.

"Solicore's Flexion batteries, working in conjunction with electronic paper displays, make it possible for us to not only meet customer demand, but to develop newer, thinner, more flexible applications in anticipation of their needs," says Yoshio Wachi, general manager of Research and Development at Toppan Forms.

USABC Awards $12.9 Million Development Contract

The U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), whose members are Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., has awarded a $12.9 million plug-in hybrid electric battery technology development contract to Compact Power Inc. (CPI) of Troy, Michigan. Under the cost-share contract, CPI will develop Li-ion batteries for 10-mile range PHEVs using high-energy and high-power manganese-spinel chemistry.

The new contract follows research previously conducted with USABC on lithium-ion battery cell development, which focused on improving life cycle, calendar life, cold-cranking power, abuse-tolerance, and low temperature performance, as well as creating designs for a new cell pouch and separator. Module development also included lithium-ion thermal issues, battery module electronics, cell interconnections, and abuse testing.

SymPowerco's Fuel Cell Hybrid Prototype

SymPowerco Corp. of Las Vegas, Nevada, has released development details of its prototype fuel cell and hybrid power systems. The systems are located in the laboratories of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

The 5W fuel cell stack consists of a series of five flowing electrolyte direct methanol fuel cells that provide power to a hybrid power system. The fuel cell stack maintains the charge on the power system's batteries while the batteries supply power to a variable load. The fuel cell subsystems include the methanol and electrolyte recirculation and control systems and a secondary fuel cell that removes methanol from the recirculating electrolyte.

Also included in the fuel cell system is an advanced System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system designed exclusively for SymPowerco's fuel cell program. The SCADA system has sufficient capability for all anticipated phases of the program and will serve as the basis of the company's commercial SCADA designs.

Ford Delivers Flexible Fuel, Plug-In to DOE

Ford Motor Co. has delivered its first-ever flexible fuel capable plug-in hybrid SUV to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid, which runs on gasoline or E85, is part of a demonstration fleet Ford is developing in a partnership with Southern California Edison and the Electric Power Research Institute. The Department of Energy will include the vehicle in its fleet to showcase the marriage of technologies and obtain real world experience with the vehicle.

The vehicle is equipped with a 10kW Li-ion battery supplied by Johnson-Controls/Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive 30 miles at up to 40 mph. When fueled by E85 ethanol, fuel economy can reach 88 mpg in urban driving and 50 mpg on the highway. The vehicle would emit an estimated 60% less CO² than a conventional gasoline powered vehicle. That reduction could reach 90% if cellulosic ethanol is used in place of gasoline.

The flexible fuel Escape Plug-in Hybrid runs up to 30 miles at speeds less than 40 mph in electric mode until the battery's charge is 70% depleted. At higher speeds or when the battery is depleted, the vehicle switches to traditional hybrid mode ‚ a fuel efficient four-cylinder engine assisted by the Li-ion battery.

Firefly Energy Gets Lead Acid Money

Firefly Energy of Peoria, Illinois, capped off a $16 million third round of funding to continue developing and marketing its carbon and graphite foam-based battery technologies for commercial and military use. Khosla Ventures and Infield Capital, which signed on as new investors to lead the deal, were joined by Stark Capital, Caterpillar and other previous investors.

Firefly will release the Oasis battery this summer. Intended for use in long-haul trucks, the battery will power sleeper cabs when the truck's diesel engine is idling to reduce fuel emissions. Oasis should provide relief to truck drivers saddled with high diesel costs by improving fuel efficiency. Firefly claims it will provide a 50% run time boost over competitors' batteries.

Samsung SDI, Bosch Agree on Joint Venture

Samsung SDI Co., a Korean producer of rechargeable batteries, and Bosch Corp., a German supplier of automobile components, have agreed to form a battery-production joint venture in Seoul, Korea. According to Samsung SDI, the company recently signed a contract with Bosch to set up the 50-50 joint venture, named SB LiMotive, to develop batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles.

The joint venture, scheduled to be established in September, plans to begin producing hybrid-electric vehicle batteries in 2010. The two companies are also considering producing batteries for laptops and other wireless devices.

NREL Teams Up With A123Systems

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and A123Systems have teamed up to support the battery-maker's effort to develop safe, less expensive, more powerful, and longer lasting batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles. NREL and A123Systems have signed a three-year, cooperative research and development agreement to examine and develop new techniques to improve thermal management in advanced transportation batteries.

"We're pleased to be working with A123Systems on thermal management of their advanced nanophosphate-based lithium ion batteries," says NREL Principal Engineer Ahmad Pesaran.

Yardney-Powered Phoenix Lands on Mars

After cruising for almost 10 months since its launch from Earth, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander made a safe landing on the red planet on June 1.

Phoenix relies on advanced Li-ion batteries from Yardney Technical Products, Inc., based in Pawcatuck, Connecticut. The batteries will provide power at night when there is no sunlight for the solar panels to convert to electricity and can also be used when a task requires more power than the primary power source can deliver.

The Phoenix spacecraft was developed for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory by prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The spacecraft is using the original Mars Surveyor Lander as its starting point, with Yardney again selected to provide the critical batteries.

Azure Receives Order for 15 Parallel Hybrid Vehicles

Azure Dynamics Corp. of Oak Park, Michigan, a developer of hybrid electric and electric powertrains for commercial vehicles, has received an order from AT&T for 15 gasoline parallel hybrid electric Ford E-450.

Scott Harrison, Azure's chief executive officer says, "The purchase of production vehicles by AT&T is another significant milestone for Azure. Not only does this order once again demonstrate the depth and functionality of Azure's parallel hybrid system but it validates the broad application of the technology across various industries. It is great to be able to call AT&T a customer."

Polypore Acquires Yurie-Wide Corp.

Polypore International Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary Celgard LLC, has closed on the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding capital stock of Yurie-Wide Corp., a South Korean company, for approximately $23 million in cash, including acquisition-related costs.

Celgard LLC is a global leader in the development and production of specialty microporous membranes, including separators used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for personal electronic devices such as notebook computers, mobile telephones, digital cameras, and other high performance applications such as power tools, hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and fuel cells.