Yardney and Coda Automotive Form JV for US Automotive Li-ion Systems Production; Lishen Expected to Participate

8 June 2009

34 kWh battery pack for Coda sedan. Click to enlarge.

Connecticut-based Yardney Technical Products, Inc. and California-based Coda Automotive have entered into a joint venture (Coda Battery Systems LLC) to design, manufacture and sell automotive-grade, lithium-ion battery systems in the United States. Coda Battery Systems LLC submitted a proposal under the stimulus grant program to the Department of Energy on 19 May for funding to build manufacturing at a facility in Enfield, CT.

Yardney is a developer of advanced battery systems, targeting US military and other government agencies. Coda Automotive is currently safety and durability testing its Hafei-built all-electric highway sedan for the mass market.

14.5 Ah Li-ion iron phosphate cell for Coda sedan. Click to enlarge.

Scheduled for delivery to the California market in the fall of 2010, the four-door, five-passenger, mid-size electric Coda sedan will initially be sold with a 34 kWh Li-ion iron phosphate battery system from a joint venture between Coda Automotive and Chinese-based Tianjin Lishen Battery Co., one of largest suppliers of lithium-ion batteries in the world. (Earlier post.)

Coda Battery Systems LLC will begin supplying the power battery system for the Coda sedan as soon as the new US facility can be brought on-line. It is anticipated that Lishen, Coda’s battery partner in China, will participate in the US manufacturing joint venture.

This electric vehicle venture is a major strategic step for Yardney. We have been working on battery technology research specifically for hybrid and electric vehicle applications for years. This is the culmination of all that we have worked towards—building the technology, experience, and reputation to be able to produce automotive grade lithium-ion power battery systems.

—Vince Yevoli, President, Yardney

Yardney has been providing batteries for the US military since 1944. Development of Yardney’s first major lithium-ion battery began in 1998 when Yardney won a contract to develop a battery for a planned NASA Mars lander. Since then, Yardney has also developed such batteries for many other aerospace applications, including a variety of satellites, the US Air Force’s B-2 Bomber and Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, and the Mars Exploration Rovers (an all-electric vehicle, operating under the most challenging conditions imaginable), among many others.

In 2007, Yardney received two federal awards totaling $200,000 for developing lithium-ion batteries for use in hybrid electric vehicles. (Earlier post.)