Ener1 CEO and Chairman Charles Gassenheimer certainly isn't afraid to talk up the li-ion battery work that battery subsidiary EnerDel is doing. It looks like the U.S. federal government is also willing to get behind the lithium-ion research going on in Indianapolis. The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded EnerDel a $4 million research and development contract for work that should:

• create lightweight, high-performance battery solutions for real-time tracking of vital military assets in harsh climates, and
• create high-energy batteries to power miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), increasingly critical to battlefield troops.

Just think, your Th!nk could be powered by the same battery that flies around and kills people, although perhaps not - does an EV need a "severe-duty" battery? Probably not. More details after the jump.

[Source: EnerDel]

click to enlarge

Ener1 has been in the news quite a bit these last few weeks, and new CEO (and former and current Chairman) Charles Gassenheimer thought it prudent to write a letter to shareholders about the current status of the company and the future of li-ion batteries in the automotive market. Some of the highlights of things we haven't covered recently include:

• Gassenheimer believes that each dollar Ener1 invests in the automotive battery subsidiary EnerDel will "return between $4.00 and $6.00 in revenues annually." Gassenheimer says carmakers will need $150bn worth of li-ion batteries each year at some point in the undefined future. Domestic automakers "will require, or at least have a firm preference for, domestically manufactured batteries."
• Nonetheless, future battery plants will of necessity be located around the world.
• Ener1 and EnerDel are poised to use their "first-mover" advantage in li-ion battery tech which was gained by supplying the 27 kWh packs for Th!nk.
• Ener1's shareholder equity was $35m at the end of June.

You can read the entire letter after the jump.

[Source: Ener1]

Just the other day we were asking ourselves if the price of the most expensive component of electric cars, the lithium ion batteries, will ever come down. As if to answer our query Charles Gassenheimer, Chief Executive over at battery maker Ener1, has come back with the answer we hoped to hear. Yes! And we're not talking about a small fraction of a reduction but rather a full 50 percent. Of course this kind of sea change in price will require a huge increase in volume. Gassenheimer says they will need to have volumes in the hundreds of thousands to achieve this price drop but silver-lines that cloud by saying, "But the important point of this here is the demand side of this equation doesn't seem to be the problem." He says demand is "off the charts in Europe and Asia" and expects American demand to keep increasing as well.

Ener1, who already make batteries for plug-in Priuses and have a $70 million supply deal with Th!nk, are pressing to reach this kind of output and are chatting up 24 (!) different auto makers. Of these, two may soon ink development contracts which could, because of the size of these companies, lead to Ener1 actually becoming cash flow positive in 2010. If they can achieve their cost-reduction goals, the pay-back period for all-electric cars may be reached in as little as two years instead of the current 7 or 8 if the price of oil stays around $100 a barrel.

[Source: Reuters]

Click above for more shots of the Th!nk Ox and City

Th!nk Global recently hired a new President and COO named Richard Canny who had previously been Ford's Worldwide Director of Strategic Planning (details in the Th!nk release after the break). It didn't take too long for Canny to announce that EnerDel would be ramping up its supply of lithium ion batteries for the Norwegian electric automaker. Th!nk has ordered $70 million worth of battery packs from EnerDel, which equates to about 5,000 units. Each pack contains about 27 kWh of power.

Th!nk's current plans call for an electric car to be made in the U.S. for less than $25K. Yeah, we are suitably excited by that prospect. EnerDel is just one of three companies vying for the right to supply the batteries for the new Th!nk cars, though its chances look fairly decent, not least because the company has gotten tax breaks from the City of Indianapolis to expand there and hire 850 new workers.


[Sources: Th!nk, EnerDel, The Indy Star]

The EnerDel li-ion battery company continues charging ahead in Indiana. The company got a visit from governor Mitch Daniels today at its Indianapolis location and the big news for EnerDel is that the Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered the company up to $7.125m in "performance-based tax credits and up to $58,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans." Those plans include creating over 850 new jobs between now and the end of 2012. Gov. Daniels was suitably impressed, saying in a statement that, "When those jobs are in a technology of tomorrow, like electric cars, it offers the prospect of even bigger news to follow. Indiana has what it takes to lead this automotive revolution and today is step one." Currently, Ener1 (which owns EnerDel) currently employs 92 people at the Indy location. More details after the jump.

[Source: Ener1]

There are changes in EnerDel/Ener1 land. Yesterday, Ener1 said it would be moving its headquarters to New York City. Today, in a more important announcement, Ener1 said that it has taken complete control of EnerDel, Ener1's li-ion battery subsidiary, by buying some equity interest away from former joint venture partner Delphi. Delphi let its 19.5 percent equity interest in EnerDel go as part of its work to get out of bankruptcy. Ener1 gave Delphi 2.8m shares of Ener1 Restricted Common Stock and a cool eight million bucks. Even with the cash outlay, Ener1 says it remains debt free and "fully funded at present levels of activity through the end of 2009." Not a bad place to be in the current economic and automotive climate. Check out Ener1's press release for more details



[Source: Ener1]

We spoke with Ener1 Chairman Charles Gassenheimer back in December at the EVS23 expo and at the time he was quite bullish on his company's prospects for 2008. So far this year, there has been quite a bit of good news for the company. Ener1's li-ion battery subsidiary, EnerDel, put a lithium-ion pack in a Th!nk City EV and is a staunch proponent of making future hybrids much more affordable. GM-Volt's Lyle Dennis recently had a chance to get an update on EnerDel's current battery status from Gassenheimer and you can read all about it here. The condensed version is:

• The EnerDel Prius was tested at Argonne national lab and got 77.4 mpg.
• Some EnerDel battery packs are being tested in Canada.
• The available operating range of EnerDel's packs is 95.5 percent, much more than the range that other companies' batteries can offer.
• Ener1 is in talks with more companies to use their batteries.
• Gassenheimer doesn't see a lithium shortage any time soon. Perhaps we'll get it from seawater some day.
• Li-ion Th!nk City still on track to be "on the road by the end of this year."

Read the rest.
[Source: GM-Volt]

EnerDel, the li-ion battery subsidiary of Ener1, announce today that a "fully functional lithium-ion battery pack" is currently operational in a Th!nk City electric vehicle in Indianapolis. Ener1 has a large and growing facility in Indianapolis, and it's no secret that Norwegian company Th!nk will soon build cars in North America, with an eye to selling up to 50,000 units here each year. Ener1 sent out an email to investors today that says that the installation of the li-ion pack, "indicates that EnerDel is on schedule to meet the year-end timetable for volume production under its supply agreement with Think Global." It seems like the battery pack is a 27 kWh pack, just like the three EnerDel sent to Think Global earlier this year. The potential success of companies like EnerDel and Th!nk are good not only for drivers - who might see hybrid premium paytimes of as little as two years if they're not into the pure EVs - but also for the venture capitalists who have been standing behind Th!nk.

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.

EnerDel's lithium-titanate battery has been independently tested by the Center for Transportation Research of the
Illinois-based Argonne National Laboratory. For the tests, a stock Toyota Prius had its nickel metal hydride battery pack replaced with a new 1kWh lithium ion unit from EnerDel. No problems were reported, despite the fact that no additional cooling modifications were made to the vehicle or battery pack. Additionally, a test was run which was intended to predict what the battery pack would be capable of if the Prius were converted to a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). Test results were promising, with the EnerDel-equipped Prius achieving 77.41 miles per gallon on the city test. Although these results are just an approximation of what a PHEV Prius could offer, they are still promising. Also of note is the fact that internal resistance of the pack was reduced by sixty-seven percent over the stock Prius pack.

According to the press release pasted after the break, EnerDel's pack could be half the size of the Prius' stock pack while still offering the same performance, meaning that a similar-sized pack as stock would offer twice the power potential. Thanks for the tip, Jan!

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?

At EVS23, AutoblogGreen had a chance to speak with the chairman of Ener1, Inc., Charles Gassenheimer, about his company's batteries and the future of Enerdel's lithium-ion batteries in automotive applications. He told us then that "We think 2008 is going to be a very exciting year for us." Now we know one reason why.

Yesterday, Gassenheimer told Fox Business News that his company's batteries will be on the market by the end of 2008. From what we know so far, it's likely that Th!nk will have the first vehicles featuring an Ener1 lithium ion battery inside (see links below).

According to a press release sent out by Ener1, here are Gassenheimer's comments to Fox:

Our batteries have already been tested by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium, which is General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. We are the only battery company today using this Lithium-ion technology, which has met or exceeded all of the Big Three's requirements, especially and most importantly best-in-class in safety. We have already announced a commercial contract with Think Electric Vehicle in Norway. It's the largest electric vehicle company in Europe. You will see our batteries in their cars by the end of 2008 (read the rest after the jump).

In the race to bring lithium-ion to the masses, Ener1 is not waiting around. Now, let's see what happens when these cars are on the road, preferably with us in the driver's seat.

Related:

• Ener1 first to integrate lithium-ion battery into HEV
• Ener1 shuffles management in preparation of battery commercialization
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Ener1's batteries
• Ener1 and Th!nk sign the largest contract for lithium-ion batteries in automotive history

[Source: Ener1, Inc.]

Electric car advocate and vlogger Doug Korthof has posted several videos from EVS23, including the video above, which is a look at Ener1's lithium-ion Prius. Doug asked Ener1 fairly technical questions, so if you are interested in things like the top of the discharge curve, the above video is just for you.

Below the fold is Doug's look at Vectrix's new three wheeler and a walk and chat around the A123 and Killacycle booth. That video has interesting tidbits about the Killacycle crash. Apparently, if the bike had not slowed down, it would have torn the other vehicle in half ... that would have been cool.

Doug is still adding videos and AutoblogGreen was there as well, so stay tuned for more coverage from EVS23 very soon.

Related:

• EVS23: Enerdel's "end-to-end" lithium solution for hybrids
• Ener1 first to integrate lithium-ion battery into HEV

[Source: YouTube]

One of the announcements from EVS23 was from Ener1, the company behind the EnerDel lithium power systems. On the showroom floor, Ener1 was displaying a Prius they have converted with the EnerDel battery packs, a move that even attracted positve comments from Toyota representatives. I stopped by and spoke with Charles Gassenheimer, the chairman of Ener1 Inc., and he told me about how Ener1 is the only company at EVS23 that has the "end-to-end solution" for lithium-powered cars. That is, they can do the cell and chemistry design, the battery design and system integration.

You can hear what Charles has to say here (9 min, 6 MB). When you listen, you'll hear him mention the small size of the battery pack. This is what he's talking about. There is more information on some of the topics he mentions in these posts:

• Ener1 first to integrate lithium-ion battery into HEV
• Ener1 shuffles management in preparation of battery commercialization
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Ener1's batteries
• Ener1 and Th!nk sign the largest contract for lithium-ion batteries in automotive history

In October, we noticed a Prius in an Ener1 video and predicted Ener1 was working on a plug-in Prius. Later, we read in SEC files that Ener1 would show a demonstration car in December and questioned if the Prius was that car. Turns out we were right, almost. That car in the video did use Ener1's batteries but it was not a plug-in and there is a difference.

Ener1 released a press release today that said they were the first to integrate a lithium-ion battery into a HEV (hybrid electric vehicle). The first? What about all those PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles)? Aren't they just HEVs with a plug? I contacted Ener1 and they schooled me on the differences. Jerry Herlihy, Ener1's Chief Financial Officer, explained:

The battery for HEV is very different than PHEV. It requires power rather than energy density; it requires a large number of cycles; it needs to be safe; it requires a high C rate (time to charge and discharge); it needs to cold crank; it needs to operate in low temperatures, etc. And it has to be affordable.

And Ener1 will be affordable. According to the press release, a video tape of the test drive of the Prius will be made available to the press and the video will be at the Ener1 website soon. Third party testing of the batteries' performance in the Prius will be released the first quarter of 2008. The Ener1 battery gives twice as much power to the Prius electric motor and the increase in performance is expected to be substantial. Ener1 will also give a presentation to registered participants at EVS-23 today. AutoblogGreen's Sebastian is at EVW23, so stay tuned for reports directly from the show floor.

Related:

• Ener1 shuffles management in preparation of battery commercialization
• Ener1 and Th!nk sign the largest contract for lithium-ion batteries in automotive history
• EnerDel plans to sell affordable, lithium-ion battery in 2 years
• Video: Enerdel working on a plug-in Prius?
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Ener1's batteries

[Source: Ener1 press release]