EnerDel is the battery division of Ener1, an energy storage solutions company. EnerDel's batteries can currently be found in a plug-in Prius and a Th!nk City. The parent company announced today that it has raised $29.7m worth of equity capital through something called a Warrant Exercise. The influx of funds means that Ener1's cash position on its balance sheet is now around $42.5m, the company said in a statement. While the statement doesn't specifically mention any of Ener1's automotive battery technologies, Ener1 Chairman Charles Gassenheimer said that, "We also now have access to a $7 million equipment lease facility that will help finance our plant expansion in Indianapolis and increase our financial flexibility." That Indianapolis facility is where people like Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) go to take test drives of EnerDel li-ion hybrids. More details on the stock deal after the jump.

Want one of the all-electric Th!nk City cars powered by a lithium-ion battery? You're one step closer today than yesterday thanks to an announcement by EnerDel, the battery division of Ener1, that it has delivered the first mechanical prototype of the lithium-ion battery pack to Th!nk for form and fit evaluation. Even though Th!nk Citys are popping up in Paris and London, the pack is being tested in a City that is at EnerDel's Indianapolis facility in a car that was delivered last week.

With all of the problems the electric car companies have, it's kind of rare to see li-ion technology moves that happen on schedule. Last October, the two companies said Ener1 would deliver production prototypes to Th!nk in March 2008. Tests will continue until the end of April and EnerDel said in a statement (available after the break) that it expects to have its battery pack operating in the Th!nk City by the end of the year. We'll be waiting for a test drive and reports from customers before we call this a success, but I think this calls for at least a little bit of hope, no?

Ener1Del has signed a deal with Think Global, the makers of the Th!nk city car, to become the supplier of choice for lithium-ion batteries. Under a development agreement between Ener1 and Think, Ener1 will deliver production prototypes to Think in March 2008 and pre-production parts (valued at $1.4 M) the following July. Once those milestones are reached, Ener1 expects $70 M in sales in 2008-2010 and, depending on growth from Think, Ener1 expects sales from the entire contract to be worth $200 M.

Charles Gassenheimer, Chairman of Ener1 and Peter Novak CEO of Ener1 says "This contract with Think is the commercial breakthrough that will provide the investment community with a clear picture of the substantial revenues and cash flows that are possible in the Li ion battery market." Jan-Olaf Willums, President and Chief Executive Officer of Think Global stated, "We are confident in EnerDel's capabilities to deliver this safe, reliable and high energy battery system that will power the electric vehicle of the future. While this is the largest Lithium ion battery contract in the automotive industry to date, we expect demand for our vehicle and the resulting battery supply requirements to increase substantially from these levels."

$200 M sounds like a lot of cars, especially if you consider Ener1 is promising amazing reductions in the price of the battery. I would guess Think expects car sales with Ener1's batteries in the tens of thousands - maybe even hundreds of thousands. With a deal like this, other car companies are sure to come looking at Ener1's technology and our bet is on Toyota because we already noticed they seem to be working on a Prius in the lab. You can read the press release in full below the fold.

[Source: Ener1, Inc.]