Li-Tec Boosting Li-ion Production at Kamenz Plant to 300,000 Units By End of 2009
28 September 2009
Li-Tec Battery GmbH, the lithium-ion battery company jointly owned by of Evonik Industries AG and Daimler, plans to boost its production capacity for battery cells to 300,000 annual units by the end of this year. Its plant in Kamenz, Germany will begin serial production of several million cells in 2011.
In December 2008, Evonik Industries AG and Daimler AG established a strategic alliance to further the research, development and production of lithium-ion battery cells and battery systems in Germany. (Earlier post.) As part of the alliance, Daimler acquired 49.9% of Li-Tec, and agreed to use Li-Tec lithium-ion cells in upcoming Mercedes series-production electric vehicles.
The alliance also resulted in the formation of a joint venture focused on the development and production of batteries and battery systems for automotive applications: Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co. KG. Daimler will hold 90% of this joint venture, and Evonik 10%. A Deutsche Accumotive plant is being built in Kamenz, in close proximity to the Li-Tec plant. Production at the Deutsche Accumotive plant is slated to begin in 2011, with the first application of Li-ion battery systems in Mercedes vehicles from 2012. (Earlier post.)
We are pleased about the high interest in our technology. Our cooperation with Daimler explicitly calls for the sale of cells and battery systems to third parties, since it is not a mutually exclusive alliance. The strategic partnership offers a unique opportunity to pool essential competencies in the area of battery production and to take a significant step forward in German battery development.
—Dr. Andreas Gutsch, Executive Director of Li-Tec Battery GmbH
Li-Tec has pooled its technology under the CERIO brand. The ceramic high-performance separator SEPARION (earlier post) forms the core of the CERIO technology.
Li-Tec, Sion Power, Hithachi and Electrovaya all claim to have very high energy (300+ Wh/Kg) batteries and working on new version with up to 600 Wh/Kg.
If those four (and probably others) reach about 80% of their claimed development goals (i.e. about 500 Wh/Kg) at a decent price, the world may have its first generation of affordable, practical small BEVs.
Let's hope that it will be soon of by 2015.
Posted by: HarveyD | 30 September 2009 at 02:24 PM