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Q1. What types of rechargeable batteries are used for HEV’s / EV’s?
The main battery technologies potentially viable for HEV’s/EV’s have been Lead acid (Pb), Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium-ion batteries.
The Lead acid battery is considered too heavy and uses too much space compared to the other technologies, but may see some limited lower voltage applications (micro-hybrids).
At the present time the Ni-MH technology is the dominant battery for HEV’s.
The future market trend is shifting from Ni-MH to lithium ion battery due to size, weight, performance and cost advantages. The same transition occurred in consumer electronics in the 1990’s such that today the lithium ion technology has close to a 100% market penetration in notebook computers, cell phones and other portable devices.
Q2. Why do you believe US manufacturing is a key for automobile applications?
Although lithium ion batteries for consumer electronics are dominated by Asian companies, EnerDel believes that this will not be the case for automotive applications.
First, the vast majority of automobiles that are sold in the U.S. are also manufactured in the U.S., including a number of foreign automobile manufacturers that have production facilities located in the U.S.
Secondly, of the U.S. based lithium ion companies, including our competitors for automobile applications, only a few have factories located in the U.S.
Other key components to U.S. based lithium ion battery manufacturing will include:
- Avoiding high costs of international transportation (due to the size and high voltage of the product) if the batteries are manufactured overseas.
- The assembly of the HEV/EV vehicles that takes place in the U.S. will need to have a local U.S. supply chain.
Q3. Why is there no volume lithium-ion battery manufacturing in US?
- The core technology has been and still is being developed in the U.S. but until the HEV/EV automotive market there were no large markets in U.S. to sustain lithium ion battery manufacturers as the vast amount of consumer electronics products that use lithium-ion batteries are manufactured in Asia.
- A limited or underestimation of availability and access to advanced materials and process equipment companies in Asia.
Q4. How do you compete with major lithium-ion manufacturers in Asia?
The major lithium ion battery manufacturers in Asia are virtually all major electronics companies and do not always have the know-how and expertise for automobile requirements. EnerDel, at its formation, inherited all the know-how, experience and intellectual property from Delphi which had been working on high voltage automobile battery systems, including lithium-ion batteries, for more than 10 years. The combination of being a local U.S. based supplier with extensive automotive high voltage battery knowledge will allow us to compete with Asian lithium ion manufacturers.
Q5. Are you competing with Fuel Cells?
No, we are not competing with fuel cells because fuel cell cars will still require a rechargeable energy source, such as a lithium ion battery. The fuel cell technology simply replaces the combustion engine and the power still needs to be stored in some form such as a battery.
Q6. What if Methanol, Diesel or other fuel becomes more popular fuel than gasoline?
Not all alternate fuel is inexpensive and has an effective environmental and economical impact. We will still need to conserve the fuels we burn and lower the emission rates from our automobiles. Lithium ion batteries will help ease the burden of natural resources and help lower consumption of any type of fuel.
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