It appears that along with re-engineering the powertrain of their upcoming electric vehicles Phoenix Motor Cars has decided to hedge their battery bet. Phoenix was the first company to commit to using Altairnano's lithium titanate batteries in an automotive applications. However Canadian battery supplier Electrovaya announced the other day that they would be supplying battery packs to Phoenix. The obvious question is what becomes of Altairnano? According to Phoenix Marketing VP Bryon Bliss, the company will be offering packs from multiple suppliers. Both Altairnano and Electrovaya batteries will be sold for the upcoming SUV and sport utility truck. The Altairnano batteries have the advantage of being able to withstand 10 minute rapid charges. Unfortunately they only have about half the energy density of other lithium battery technologies and so far they are also much more expensive. We're still trying to get more clarification on timing and cost differences for the different battery packs and we'll keep you updated.
[Source: Green Car Congress]
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1. As an ALTI stockholder who's been reamed by market value lately, I'm hoping that perhaps this forms a breach of contract by Phoenix and now removes the exclusivity clause for Altair. SUT's (and SUV's and cars) are really not the proper place for these batteries due to the above-mentioned energy density issue as well as the problem of high-speed charge infrastructure. Much better would be metro delivery vans, airport shuttles, etc. with more room for batteries, the ability to install local charging stations, and the need to keep their vehicles running with as little downtime as possible.
Altair needs desperately to find markets suited to their batteries. Power load stations are one that they are trying, but vehicles still have major potential. The exclusivity agreement with lame-duck Phoenix (which may or may not every rise from the flames) has REALLY hurt them, especially domestically.
Posted at 1:30PM on May 8th 2008 by Paul