Shortly after reports of
leaky batteries coming from Cobasys, which greatly slowed the production of
GM's mild
hybrid vehicles, such as the
Saturn Vue and
Aura hybrids and
Chevy Malibu hybrid, comes a report from
Automotive News which suggests that
General Motors may just purchase the troubled
battery maker outright. That's one way to manage the problem, wouldn't you say? Though GM would own 100-percent of Cobasys, some sort of partnership is said to be in the works, though that other entity remains unknown. Before this announcement, Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices, co-owners of the battery supplier, had been fighting over ownership of the company.
What effect this news may have on GM's future hybrid plans remains unknown. Currently, Cobasys supplies nickel metal hydride batteries to the General. The upcoming Chevy Volt will use the newer lithium ion batteries. Still, General Motors recently showed off a new version of its mild hybrid technology, and therefore may have extended plans for future batteries from Cobasys.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
What effect this news may have on GM's future hybrid plans remains unknown. Currently, Cobasys supplies nickel metal hydride batteries to the General. The upcoming Chevy Volt will use the newer lithium ion batteries. Still, General Motors recently showed off a new version of its mild hybrid technology, and therefore may have extended plans for future batteries from Cobasys.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
