Supply Chain News

LG Chem of South Korea will be supplying lithium-ion batteries to CT&T, the South Korean based LSV manufacturer.  CT&T last year won a contract to supply 4,000 LSVs to California police departments, and is currently looking around the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas for locations to build assembly plants.  Learn more:  Tradingmarkets.com

Zytek of Great Britain will be providing the Navistar and Modec joint venture with a 70kw electric powertrain for the venture’s commercial electric trucks being marketed in the Americas.  Four hundred of the trucks will be produced in 2010 using $39 million in grant money from the US government.  Learn more:  Autoevolution.com

Battery Developments and Implications for STOVs

The ongoing development of battery power holds significant potential for small, task-oriented vehicles (STOVs).  Most of the development and most discussion and analysis of battery development is in the context of powering on-road vehicles.  The crumbs off the table of this development process, however, could have a significant impact on market development of small, task-oriented vehicles.

STOVs are certainly not confined to electric power, but given the trend toward electric power in all but the off-road UTV (and derivatives) market–and that is coming, too–as well as the market drivers pushing toward electric, a focus on electric power is hardly unjustified.

In a presentation at the Industrial Utility Vehicle Technology Conference, I outlined four areas of product development that were needed to encourage market growth of the small, electric vehicle market.

• Greater range, moving from 30-40 miles to 100 miles;
• More power, deliverable through the adaptation of AC electric motors;
• Faster speeds, increasing from the upper limits now of 25 m.p.h. to the 40-45 m.p.h. range;
• Better ergonomic features, including all-weather driveability.

The ensuing years have seen improvements in all categories.  – Steve Metzger

For the full article see:  IUVMag.com

Universities Give Miles Automotive LSVs A Failing Grade

Three Michigan universities have returned or are in the process of returning three electric vehicles produced by Miles Automotive because of limited range. According to reports university personnel were promised a vehicle range of 80 miles per charge but have only been able to realize half that or less, the equivalent of about half a work day. This is approximately the range that is currently estimated by the manufacturer for the vehicle, so it sounds like performance for these vehicles, which the universities were using on a trial basis, was over promised. The range problem is being attributed to the cold Michigan weather’s negative impact on battery performance. Learn more: Autologgreen.com

Breakthrough In Lithium Ion Battery Technology

A Canadian research team has reported a high level of performance in their developmental work related to lithium-sulfur based batteries.  According to the researchers:

This composite material can supply up to nearly 80 percent of the theoretical capacity of sulfur, which is three times the energy density of lithium transition metal oxide cathodes, at reasonable rates with good cycling stability

The team used nanocasting to create the cathode material.  Learn more:  renewableenergyworld.com

Technology & Research Developments

Battery/Ultracapacitor System for Small EVs – Using an NEV as the target vehicle, researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Allborg University (Denmark) are working on a hybrid system that combines a battery pack with an ultracapacitor.  The battery handles average power loads while the ultracapacitor handles peak loads.

The target NEV has a speed limit of 40-50 km/h (25-31 mph), maximum power of 40 kW, and a weight of about 800 kg. The battery pack comprised two parallel strings of 14 series-connected 12 V NiMH batteries (Saft NHE 10-100). The ultracapacitor was a Maxwell BMOD0063 module with a nominal voltage of 125V.

Learn more:  greencarcongress.com

Bi-polar Lead Acid Battery For EVs – Last week a partnership between University of Glamorgan (Wales) and Atraverda was announced for the purpose of developing bi-polar lead acid batteries for a variety of commercial markets including EVs.  Atraverda has expertise in conductive ceramics that would be used in the batteries.  Prototypes are expected to begin testing within a year.

The partners say their work could lead to lead-acid batteries that are up to 40% lighter, 20% smaller, have 40% more energy capacity and twice the lifespan of traditional lead acid batteries.

Learn more:  greencarcongress.com

Firms Collaborate To Boost US Advanced Battery Manufacturing

Last month an effort was announced by fourteen U.S. technology companies to develop advanced battery manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. The batteries will be lithium ion and targeted for hybrid and electric vehicles.

Seeing the strategic importance of securing a battery supply and developing technological expertise, the companies are trying to secure $1 billion in federal aid to build a manufacturing plant. Firms involved in the effort include Johnson Controls, Enersys, 3M co., Mobius Power, FMC and ActaCell. While some of the technical know-how behind advanced batteries has been developed in the U.S., the manufacturing has migrated overseas to countries like China where, according to the article, over four dozen advanced battery factories are being built.

In a related story, GM has also identified battery manufacturing as a core competency and is planning to build their own lithium ion battery plant to supply their Volt vehicle production.

While the advanced battery production is clearly aimed at highway speed vehicles, the developments should help efforts to improve the performance of battery powered LSVs. While most of these vehicles use lead-acid type batteries, some are using or exploring the use of more advanced batteries. More production, competition and technological advances will only make these batteries more feasible for use in LSVs and utility vehicles in the future.