Volt battery supplier Compact Power profiled

Compact Power Inc. is one of the two companies that last week was awarded development contracts to produce batteries for the prototype Chevy Volts. CPI is a relatively new company in the US but they have roots in South Korean conglomerate LG. Right now they only have twenty-five people at their facility in Troy, MI but that will be growing as they ramp up development on the battery pack that they hope will ultimately power the production version of one of the most anticipated cars from a US automaker in many years.

Led by former Ford engineering manager Prabhakar Patil, CPI will integrate lithium ion cells produced by their parent company into a pack complete with charge and thermal management systems. Patil is now the second former leader on the Escape hybrid program to be working on a battery program for General Motors along with Mary Ann Wright who heads Johnson Controls-Saft in their development of a battery pack for the plug-in Saturn Vue Hybrid. Over the next several months all four companies that now have supply contracts will be creating packs that will be thoroughly tested at the battery lab at the General Motors Tech Center before being installed in vehicles. The Detroit Free Press has a profile of CPI today.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]