Contracts Awarded for Advanced Battery Technologies

(Idaho National Lab)

Five companies received technology development and assessment contracts today from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), a research collaboration of automakers Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Company. The awards, totaling $5.43 million, are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and include a 50 percent cost-share from each of the contracted companies.

USABC awarded the contracts to develop and assess advanced energy storage technologies for hybrid-electric vehicles, a lower-energy energy storage system for power-assist hybrid-electric vehicles, and electric vehicle applications.

One company received an advanced battery development contract:

• Envia Systems Inc. of Newark, California was awarded a $3.65 million contract for a three-year project to develop a high-energy cathode material for vehicle applications and pouch cells that exhibit performance metrics that meet or exceed the minimum USABC electric vehicle goals.

Four companies received technology assessment contracts:

• Quallion LLC of Los Angeles, California was awarded a $1.41 million contract for an 18-month technology assessment of its Matrix battery design, a hybridized battery pack using a mixture of high power and high-energy lithium-ion cells, and to demonstrate the performance of the packs against USABC electric vehicle goals.
• ActaCell Inc. of Austin, Texas, which was awarded $179,015 for a 16-month technology assessment contract to evaluate the company’s high-power lithium-ion cells for increased cycle and storage life against USABC power-assist hybrid-electric vehicles goals.
• Leyden Energy Inc. of Fremont, California, which was awarded a $117,733 contract for an eight-month technology assessment of its lithium-ion technology for electric vehicle applications in a pouch cell and to evaluate them against USABC electric vehicle battery goals.
• K2 Energy Solutions Inc. of Henderson, Nevada, which was awarded a $73,644 contract for a 12-month technology assessment of the company’s 51 amp-hour (Ah) cells and planned 45 Ah cells configured in “flat-pack” modular batteries and large laminated cells in relation to USABC electric vehicle battery targets.

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