A123

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Tier 1 auto parts supplier Delphi, which emerged as an offshoot of General Motors over a decade ago, has announced that it will supply hybrid powertrain components to Chinese automaker Shanghai Auto, better known as SAIC. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considering that SAIC is GM's official partner for the Chinese market and Delphi is already the supplier that The General uses for its mild hybrid powertrain.

A123 Systems announced today that it has applied for $1.84 billion in loans from the Department of Energy to help contribute to the $2.3 billion required to pay for the construction of battery plants in the United States. In what should be good news for Michigan, the first of the facilities A123 is planning would be located there. If A123 gets the funds, it plans to have enough cell manufacturing capacity in place by 2013 to support 5 million hybrid vehicles or half a million battery electric ve

As we reported a few months back, all signs point to Compact Power, a subsidiary of LG Chem, being awarded the big initial battery contract for the upcoming Chevy Volt. Why? There are some obvious reasons, including that Compact Power was able to get its battery packs to the General a full two months before A123 fulfilled its end of the bargain, but there could be more to it than

At least a few dozen people around the country have now done one-off conversions of hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape to transform them into plug-in vehicles. For those who may not have the hardware hacker gene in their DNA, the first commercially available plug-in conversion kit is now on the market from A123 Systems subsidiary HyMotion. Popular Mechanics Detroit Editor Larry Webster recently had the chance to sample a converted Prius with the HyMotion kit for a couple of days. The

Most of the rumors in recent months have indicated that LG Chem/CPI have the upper hand and are likely to be chosen by General Motors to supply the lithium ion battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt. However, there are plenty of electric drive vehicle projects out there and just because A123 systems may not get the Volt business, it doesn't mean they are completely out. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Massachusetts based battery maker may be in the running to supply energy storage sy

At a preview of GM's 2009 model year lineup yesterday in Jolliet IL, Bob Lutz revealed that the production supplier for the Chevy Volt battery has been selected. Unfortunately, the GM Vice Chairman would not say which of the development suppliers had been selected. Two partnerships have been supplying prototype batteries to GM for the E-Flex program since late in 2007. LG Chem and its U.S. subsidiary Compact Power Inc have long been considered to be the leaders in the race to supply the most cri

Just last week we found out that lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems had filed the first batch of paperwork required for it to make an initial public stock sale. Having tried to read through a few of these kinds of filings in the past, we took a pass this time around. Fortunately our friends at GreenTechMedia waded into these waters and noticed some interesting items. Since companies have to dis

Many of you who have been pestering us in the comments for the past couple of years about wanting to invest in A123 Systems and you may now have your chance. A123 is the Massachusetts based company that has developed a lithium ion battery chemistry based on nano particle iron phosphate. A123 has two deals to provide development batteries for GM's Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid and Chevrolet Volt ER-EV as well as a deal with Norwegian EV maker Th!nk. The startup battery company has filed the initial

A123 Systems has just earned yet another development contract for developing lithium ion cells for plug-in hybrid applications. The US Advanced Battery Consortium and the Department of Energy have awarded a $12.5 million, 36 month contract to A123. The company has already been working on several automotive plug-in hybrid battery applications including the Saturn Vue PHEV and the Chevy Volt. A123 also purchased Hymotion last year, a company that has been developing plug-in conversion kits for exi

Upstart lithium battery maker A123 is a lesson in how fast things can move in the battery space. The MIT Technology Review has a story, An Electrifying Startup, in its May/June issue recounting the tale.

All you Prius owners out there who have been waiting patiently to to start running on grid power can almost stop holding your breath. Hymotion, the company that has been developing a plug-in kit for the Prius, has now started taking deposits for the L5 conversion kit. The kit costs $9,995 plus $400 for shipping and, of course, any applicable taxes. That price includes installation at an approved shop and a three year warranty. The first deliveries and installations should start this July.

In commenting on the battle royal taking place on the testing benches at GM between two contending battery suppliers, "Maximum" Bob Lutz said Tuesday it was a "horse race. An apt analogy in a sense because the two teams, Continental Automotive Systems, using cells from A123 Systems Inc., and Compact Power Inc. who are using cells developed by its parent, LG Chem seem to be neck and neck in performance. No one has stumbled as the two sprint down the final stretch to the, oh, what's that? The fini

Our friend Lyle over GM-Volt.com has a couple of new stories up that deserve a little clarification. For those unfamiliar with the site, it's content is pretty self explanatory from the title. There is usually a pretty lively discussion going on there regarding the most anticipated new car from Detroit in many a year. First up is the issue of the first battery pack delivery from Continental/A123. LG Chem/CPI have already delivered two packs to GM's battery lab. GM had hoped to receive the first

Sunday's New York Times has an article about the complete lack of a normal electric car the average person can afford. There are smaller vehicles you c

We regularly get questions from readers asking for more detail or clarifications on the topics we write about. This morning Andrea wrote in with this question:

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BAE Systems already provides the hybrid electric drive system for DaimlerChrysler's Orion VII buses that are operating in transit fleets around the world. The company has just announced their next-generation system that will be available in 2008 switching to lithium ion batteries. The lithium batteries are using NanoPhosphate electrodes developed by A123Systems. The BAE battery pack is designed to monitor individual cell performance and route around cells that have failed for any

A123 Systems is getting a lot of media attention lately for their lithium ion battery developments right now and the New York Times has jumped on the bandwagon. A123 who is partnering with Cobasys was one of two companies that recently got development contracts from General Motors to supply batteries for the plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue program, the other being the Johnson Controls/Saft joint-venture.