Johnson Controls Introduces New Battery for Hybrids
18 January 2005
Johnson Controls, North America's largest manufacturer of lead-acid batteries, introduced at NAIAS a new NiMH battery designed for hybrid cars.
The new 7.2-volt, 7.0 Ah prismatic nickel-metal-hydride battery was
developed using technologies from the company’s Varta Battery Automotive Business in Europe, where buses have run on the supplier’s nickel-hydride batteries for the past decade. Johnson Controls acquired Varta in 2002.
Johnson Controls also offers a cylindrical NiMH cell. In a prismatic design, the positive and negative plates are stacked flat in a rectangular case; in a cylindrical, the plates are rolled up and placed in a cylindrical container. Both types of battery geometries are currently used in hybrids.
The more competition in the hybrid battery market, the better. An increasing supply of ever-more efficient battery packs would be great for accelerating hybrid adoption.
For Hybrids to really go mainstream, costs need to drop, and one of the primary cost is the batteries. The hope is
is that as demand increases economies of scale will come into effect, and prices will drop. If this battery is part of that, thrn great!! But, battery history is bursting overflowing, with promising battery tech that never really pans out. Is this going to be an exeption? I hope so...
~Michael
Posted by: Michael Torres | 15 August 2005 at 02:36 PM