lithium-ion battery

Smart: Battery rental will ease consumers' EV anxiety

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Smart USA says it can ease consumer jitters about EVs by offering customers who buy or lease the electric-powered ForTwo that went on sale last week the option of renting the car's lithium ion battery.... Read More »

 

LG Chem to start production at Mich. car battery plant in July

1:52 pm U.S. ET | May 6, 2013
South Korean battery maker LG Chem plans to begin commercial production at its Michigan factory in July and will initially supply its products to General Motors' Volt electric vehicles.... Read More »

 

2nd lives for EV batteries could cut prices

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 6, 2013
Lithium ion battery packs that power some electrified vehicles could end up feeding juice into the electrical grid -- a development that could cut EV ownership costs.... Read More »

 

Mitsubishi pinpoints lithium ion battery glitch

April 24, 2013 20:43 CET
Mitsubishi has pinpointed the cause of the lithium ion battery glitch that forced it to halt production of the Outlander plug-in hybrid crossover and most i electric cars. Mitsubishi said a small number of the affected i EVs were on the road in Europe and the United States.... Read More »

 

Mitsubishi pinpoints lithium ion battery glitch

2:43 pm U.S. ET | April 24, 2013
Mitsubishi has pinpointed the cause of the lithium ion battery glitch that forced it to halt production of the Outlander plug-in hybrid crossover and most i electric cars. Mitsubishi said a small number of the affected i EVs were on the road in the United States and Europe and that drivers there had been notified not to drive them. The plug-in hybrid Outlander is sold only in Japan.... Read More »

 

Lithium batteries fail to deliver, must be safer, regulators told

2:19 pm U.S. ET | April 11, 2013
Lithium ion battery sales and performance have fallen far short of forecasts, and better technology is needed to improve their safety, battery experts told federal regulators today.... Read More »

 

Mitsubishi extends halt of Outlander hybrid shipments

7:35 am U.S. ET | April 10, 2013
Mitsubishi will extend its production and shipment stoppage of its Outlander plug-in hybrids until it finds the cause of an overheating lithium-ion battery in one of the vehicles, the automaker said today.... Read More »

 

Mitsubishi drawn into battery crisis linked to Boeing jets

9:37 am U.S. ET | March 28, 2013
Mitsubishi has been drawn into the crisis that GS Yuasa has been battling since the overheating of the supplier's batteries grounded Boeing 787 jets.... Read More »

 

GM to produce next-generation electric car in South Korea

8:40 am U.S. ET | March 28, 2013
GM plans to produce its next-generation electric cars in South Korea, the head of its South Korean unit told Reuters on Thursday, as the U.S. carmaker tries to revive momentum for the stalling vehicle technology.... Read More »

 

Toyota targets solid-state batteries in '20

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 11, 2013
Toyota Motor Corp. aims to commercialize solid-state batteries around 2020 and lithium air batteries several years later, as successors to today's lithium ion batteries.... Read More »

 

A123 says unsecured creditors to get 65% of claims

2:28 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 7, 2013
Unsecured creditors of A123 Systems, a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that had federal government backing, will likely collect around 65 cents for each dollar they are owed, according to court documents.... Read More »

 

Battery supplier to Boeing, Honda and Mitsubishi cleared in airliner review

2:33 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 29, 2013
GS Yuasa, the supplier of lithium ion batteries used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as well as in electric and hybrid vehicles made by Honda and Mitsubishi, has been cleared of responsibility for the fires that have plagued batteries in the airplane.... Read More »

 

Tesla's Musk extends a hand to get Boeing Dreamliner flying again

9:50 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 28, 2013
Elon Musk has long considered Tesla Motors the bold, nimble answer to the auto industry's cautious culture. Now the electric-car maker's top executive has extended his help to another industrial giant: Boeing.... Read More »

 

NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

JCI gets deal to produce 48-volt batteries

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
Supplier Johnson Controls Inc. is developing a 48-volt lithium ion battery for European automakers. The higher voltage is needed to handle a growing number of electrical systems that save fuel but need more volts, such as stop-start, electric power steering, regenerative brakes and other energy-efficient electrical systems.... Read More »

 

2013 DETROIT AUTO SHOW

JCI develops 48-volt lithium ion battery for European automakers

12:20 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2013
Supplier Johnson Controls is developing a 48-volt lithium ion battery for European automakers. The higher voltage is needed to handle a growing number of electrical systems that save fuel but need more volts, such as stop-start, electric power steering, regenerative brakes and other energy-efficient electrical systems.... Read More »

 

Nissan sweetens Leaf warranty in answer to critics

5:57 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 27, 2012
Nissan plans to bolster the warranty of the battery modules in its electric Leafs to reassure consumers of their durability. The company intends to notify current owners and dealers early next year that it will make the warranty retroactive to cover all existing Leafs, offering to repair or replace the car’s lithium-ion battery if it loses more than 30 percent of its ability to hold a charge after five years or 60,000 miles.... Read More »

 

Nissan's U.S. battery plant begins lithium-ion pack output for Leaf EV

6:34 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 12, 2012
Nissan, aiming to be the world's largest seller of electric vehicles, said its Tennessee battery plant has begun producing lithium ion packs for the company's rechargeable Leaf, two years after the hatchback went on sale.... Read More »

 

A123 will not get remaining portion of government grant, U.S. says

3:09 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
The federal Energy Department will not give battery maker A123 the remaining half of its $249 million grant, following the company's high profile bankruptcy and acquisition by a Chinese auto parts supplier, a department official said today.... Read More »

 

EDITORIAL

Feds should set goals, then get out of the way

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
It is proper for the federal government to set strategic goals and standards. In this case, the Obama administration sought to create jobs quickly in low-polluting industries. That's laudable. But the market should find the best way to accomplish those goals, a method known as technology neutral.... Read More »

 

China's Wanxiang wins auction for U.S.-backed A123

8:32 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 8, 2012
China's largest maker of auto parts won a politically sensitive auction for A123 Systems, a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was funded partly with federal government money, the investment banker for A123 said on Saturday.... Read More »

 

A NEGATIVE CHARGE

How government, industry created lithium ion battery overcapacity

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 3, 2012
The drive to tool up lithium ion battery plants mixed environmentalism, national energy independence and a global race to dominate what seemed to be a coming boom. But in the excitement, boosters missed a key point: With gasoline prices below $4 a gallon, electric-drive vehicles were too expensive to attract mainstream car buyers. The gap between optimistic projections and marketplace results created what is, at least for now, a mess.... Read More »

 

U.S. senators seek thorough review of Chinese bid for A123

3:51 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 2, 2012
Two Republican senators asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a thorough review of a Chinese company's plan to acquire bankrupt battery maker A123, saying military and taxpayer-funded technology must be protected.... Read More »

 

Dow Chemical plans $1.1 billion charge to write down plant closings, battery business

6:21 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 30, 2012
Dow Chemical will take a fourth-quarter charge of as much as $1.1 billion related to last week's announcement that it will close 20 plants, write down the value of its lithium ion battery business and lay off thousands of workers.... Read More »

 

LG Chem confirms delay at battery plant

3:44 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 24, 2012
Sluggish demand for electric vehicles has led South Korean battery maker LG Chem to delay the start of production at its new plant in western Michigan. Production at the lithium ion battery cell plant was scheduled to start this year, but the company put 200 employees on a rolling furlough on April 30, and extended the furloughs on Aug. 30.... Read More »

 

Energy innovator Stanford Ovshinsky dead at 89

4:19 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 18, 2012
Stanford Ovshinsky, an inventor and founder of Energy Conversion Devices who dedicated his life to finding alternative forms of energy, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in suburban Detroit. He was 89.... Read More »