On Thursday, General Motors announced that in addition to previously Compact Power Inc., and Continental Automotive Systems it will work with A123Systems Inc. to develop lithium-ion battery packs for its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt. The Volt is design to be able to run for 40 miles on electric power alone before using a smaller internal combustion engine to recharge the car’s batteries while still in motion.
A123Systems Inc. is best known for creating the batteries that power lithium-ion rechargeable Black and Decker and DeWalt cordless power tools. The Detroit Free Press states that GM expects good progress with A123Systems:
Lutz said GM and A123 hope to have the first full lithium-ion battery pack ready for testing in the Volt by mid-October and a battery ready for use in test vehicles -- called mules -- by the end of the year. GM plans to have batteries ready for road testing by next spring.
Continental Automotive Systems actually packages A123 cells into battery packs, together they will be competing against Compact Power Inc. which uses a different cell technology. From the Free Press report:
GM already has contracts with Michigan-based Compact Power Inc., a subsidiary of South Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem, and with Continental Automotive Systems. Continental will bundle and package A123Systems' cells into battery packs. The key difference between the batteries being developed for GM and those in electronic devices, such as phones and computers, is the chemistry involved. Most lithium-ion batteries have a core of cobalt oxide. The Compact Power battery uses a manganese-based core; the A123Systems-Continental battery uses a patented doped nanophosphate technology.With the contracts, GM basically is betting that one of two types of lithium-ion batteries will contain the proper chemistry for powering its electrically driven Volt.