A123 Systems has just earned yet another development contract for developing lithium ion cells for plug-in hybrid applications. The US Advanced Battery Consortium and the Department of Energy have awarded a $12.5 million, 36 month contract to A123. The company has already been working on several automotive plug-in hybrid battery applications including the Saturn Vue PHEV and the Chevy Volt. A123 also purchased Hymotion last year, a company that has been developing plug-in conversion kits for existing hybrids. The first retail Hymotion kit using A123 cells is due to be available this summer for the Prius.

The USABC contract calls for A123 to focus on improving the energy density of cells for plug-in applications. The A123 battery chemistry is of interest to automakers because of its inherent stability compared to the lithium metal oxide chemistry used for consumer electronics batteries. However, the more stable chemistry from A123 has lower energy density. The goal is to improve that characteristic for so-called charge depleting applications that are designed to run longer on electricity alone. The three-year program will also try to reduce cost, improve durability and make the cells more resistant to abuse.

[Source: US Advanced Battery Consortium]

All you Prius owners out there who have been waiting patiently to to start running on grid power can almost stop holding your breath. Hymotion, the company that has been developing a plug-in kit for the Prius, has now started taking deposits for the L5 conversion kit. The kit costs $9,995 plus $400 for shipping and, of course, any applicable taxes. That price includes installation at an approved shop and a three year warranty. The first deliveries and installations should start this July.

The kit consists of a 5kWh battery pack filled with A123 lithium ion cells that fits into any second-generation (2004-2008) Prius. The pack can be fully charged in 4.5 hours at 110V and Hymotion claims a converted Prius will get up to 100mpg for 30-40 miles. Your mileage will of course vary. The pack has been crash tested and meets all current federal safety standards. Hymotion was bought up by A123 last year after doing a number of conversions for fleets and government testing.

[Source: Hymotion]

We've spoken with Denise Gray, GM's director of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (she's working to get the hybrid taken out of her title, considering the whole E-REV thing), about the Chevy Volt's batteries many times in the last year or so (read our talks from August 2007, November 2007, and January 2008). At the Volt briefing last week, Gray gave the collected journalists a 15-minute presentation on where the batteries are today.

The goal for these cells, from A123 Systems and Compact Power Inc. and currently being tested by GM, is to be able to move the Volt from a standstill to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds or less and to give the driver the expected "passing capability" and "predicted drivability." The trick is to provide this capability over the full life cycle (10 years and 150,000 miles) of the Volt. Of course, the 40 mile electric range in city driving is also important.

Gray said her desire is to have the batteries tested at every level. GM is doing its own testing, natch, but the suppliers will be feeding reams of data to Gray and her team on the thermal properties, the materials and more. There are more than 60 battery scientists, engineers and researchers globally in Gray's department, and then dozens more who are not directly tied to her. There are multiple battery cell and pack cyclers and thermal chambers/simulators in use at all locations globally. The challenge, of course, is to simulate 10 years of battery operations in just two years, give and take. GM's solution will be described in the battery test update.

Listen to Denise here:

• Next: A visit to the Chevy Volt's Battery Systems Lab.

A few days a potentially big story broke as a result of an interview that BusinessWeek did with Continental North America CEO Bill Kozyra. In that interview, Kozyra is quoted as saying that the battery packs for the Chevy Volt would be production by late 2009. He is also quoted as saying the batteries would be in the Chevy Volt in late 2009. This of course got Volt fan's hearts all aflutter with the thought that they might be able to buy a Volt at least a year sooner than previously thought. Well Volt fanatics, it's time to take a valium and sit yourself down.

You'll have a whole extra year to save your pennies for that new E-REV. I talked to Rob Peterson at GM shortly after seeing the interview and he knew nothing about any change in the schedule for the Volt program. This morning I finally got in touch with Jim Gill, the director of communications at Continental Automotive. Jim explained that there was a miscommunication between Kozyra and the reporter. The lithium ion batteries that Continental will have in production in 2009 are the smaller units that they are building for Mercedes-Benz mild hybrid system. If Continental/A123 Systems does get the production contract for the Volt battery packs they will not be in production until at least the second half of 2010. That production contract has not been awarded at this point. On a side note, Conti has delivered a second prototype Volt battery pack to GM this week. That pack arrived at the Warren Tech Center on Monday.

[Source: Continental]

For once the U.S. Patent and Trademark office has issued a patent on an actual invention rather than some vague business method or an all-encompassing idea like downloading files. A123 Systems has been issued patent 7,338,734 for a "Conductive Lithium Storage Electrode". The patent is related to the NanoPhosphate technology that A123 uses in their lithium ion batteries. A123's battery chemistry is considered to be among the most stable and safest for automotive use.

A123 has development contracts from General Motors for two of their upcoming plug-in programs. The Massachusetts company is supplying cells with Cobasys doing pack integration for the plug-in Saturn Vue hybrid while Continental is doing the packs for the Chevy Volt. The company has filed over 160 patent applications on various aspects of their technology since it was discovered at MIT and the company was founded in 2001.

[Source: A123 Systems]

During the Electric Drive Vehicle Symposium (EVS23) held this past week in Anaheim CA, attendees got the first public glimpse at the first prototype battery pack for the Chevy Volt. GM's Jon Lauckner, VP for Global Program Management gave a presentation at the conference that Matt Kelly from NextGear captured on video. Most of the presentation was a repeat of the standard one GM executives have been giving for the past year on how much energy the world uses and how much that amount will increase over the next two decades as well as explaining the basic premise behind the E-Flex architecture. If you haven't seen the presentation before, it's worth watching. However, the last five minutes include the latest updates on the Volt development program. As we know the first prototype pack arrived at GM's labs about six weeks ago and a couple of Lauckner's slides show photos of the pack on the bench being tested. AutoblogGreen has spoken to Jon Lauckner on numerous occasions over the past year, such as the conversation we had the Management Briefing Seminar last August. You can watch the whole EVS23 presentation after the jump.

[Source: NextGear]

Continental and A123 Systems are due to deliver their first prototype battery packs for the Chevy Volt the GM Tech Center later this month. In preparation for that moment, A123 has just unveiled the new prismatic cell that will be used. Previous A123 cells have all been cylindrical but this new unit follows the packaging path used by other GM hybrid battery packs. The prismatic design should allow a higher density of cells within a given pack volume but may cause issues with thermal management. While A123 has their own monitoring software and electronics available, GM currently plans use in-house developed code to determine the state of charge of the battery pack. Sebastian is on site at EVS23 and hopefully he'll be able to dig up some more information on what A123 has created.

[Source: GM-Volt.com]