A123 Systems gets another patent on Nanophosphate electrodes
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]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 6:04PM (3/05/2008)
Isn't this the technology that will double Lithium Ion battery capacity?
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Joseph 8:42PM (3/05/2008)
@ mike,
I don't know for sure, but I doubt it. A123 is well-known for having much, much lower energy-capacity than some other lithium-based batteries. (like the ones in cell phones and laptops) A123 is known for having super high power instead. Unless this new patent adds energy-capacity, we still have the same battery characteristics.
Sam said:
"Continental is doing the packs for the Chevy Volt"
When was Continental awarded as the supplier for the Chevy Volt battery pack? I though A123 was still in the game for the Volt battery.
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Sam Abuelsamid 7:59PM (3/05/2008)
A123 supplies the cells for both programs. Cobasys and Conti are doing the packs. That involves taking the A123 cells and packaging them with charging control circuitry, thermal management systems and connections to the vehicles. Also remember that these are development, not production contracts. Johnson Controls-Saft and LG Chem-CPI are the other suppliers for the Vue and Volt programs.
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zawy 5:32PM (5/02/2008)
A123 is going to sell $10,000 battery packs for the Prius so that it can get 100 mpg. It contains 5 kWh of energy storage, less energy than 13 ounces of gasoline. You can recharge it maybe 4,000 times, for a total of about 400 gallons of gas-equivalent power. That's $25 per "gallon of energy" just for the battery, not counting your electricity bill.
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