DOE announces $11 million in battery vehicle awards
by Sebastian Blanco on Jun 16th 2009 at 12:34PM 
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The fate of eleven million dollars from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the "development of advanced batteries for electric drive vehicles" was announced today. The companies that will get some of the investment money include:
- A123Systems, Inc. (up to $1.1 million) "to develop a high throughput electrode fabrication process for their lithium ion battery technology."
- Angstron Materials LLC (and others, including GM, up to $1.6 million), "to develop hybrid nano carbon fiber/graphene platelet-based high-capacity anodes for lithium batteries."
- EnerDel (up to $3.3 million) "to develop a chemical shuttle agent that will eliminate the danger of overcharging lithium ion batteries developed for plug in hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles."
- MaxPower Inc.(up to $500,000) to adapt "MaxPower's present battery management systems (BMS) for lithium-ion batteries to recognize the imminent appearance of an internal short and to take action to operate the battery in a safe state."
- North Carolina State University (and others, up to $1.35 million) "to develop high-energy composite nanofiber anodes for materials for lithium ion batteries."
- SION Power Corporation (up to $800,000) to demonstrate "the viability of their lithium sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable battery chemistry for electric drive vehicles."
- TIAX LLC (up to $2.36 million) to understand and prevent "internal short circuits in lithium ion cells."
[Source: DOE]
PRESS RELEASE:
DOE Announces Nearly $11 Million in Projects for Research, Development, and Demonstration of Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Technologies
June 16, 2009
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of seven cost-shared research projects for the development of advanced batteries for electric drive vehicles. The total DOE investment for these projects is up to $10.96 million over three years, subject to annual appropriations. Private sector contributions will further increase the financial investment for a total of up to $19.36 million. The selections announced today are part of DOE's continuing work to develop high-efficiency electric drive vehicle battery technologies and will directly support DOE's goal to protect our national and economic security by promoting a diverse supply and delivery of reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound alternative energy.
The projects, being funded by base annual appropriations, will focus on improving battery material performance, developing manufacturing processes to increase performance, and decreasing the cost of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) batteries. PHEVs are hybrid vehicles that can be driven in electric-only mode and recharged from a standard electric outlet. These vehicles provide fuel diversity and decreased petroleum consumption. The acceleration of lithium-ion battery development is a key step in the successful commercialization of PHEVs, which will be capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging.
These projects were selected under the battery materials and manufacturing topic area from the Vehicle Technologies Program Wide Funding Opportunity Announcement released on February 29, 2008. In December 2008, DOE announced the initial selection of three battery materials and manufacturing projects for negotiation of award from the FOA, including: 3M Company (St Paul, Minnesota), BASF Catalyst LLC (Iselin, New Jersey, and Elyria, Ohio) and FMC Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina). These three contracts total up to $13.9 million in cost-shared cooperative agreements; DOE share of up to $6.85 million, subject to annual appropriations. The additional selections announced today include:
- A123Systems, Inc of Watertown, Massachusetts, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $1.1 million for a project to develop a high throughput electrode fabrication process for their lithium ion battery technology.
- Angstron Materials LLC of Dayton, Ohio, teamed with Applied Sciences Inc. of Cedarville, Ohio; K2 Energy Solutions of Henderson, Nevada; General Motors Corporation of Detroit, Michigan; and HST Auto of Escondido, California; has been selected for negotiation of a three-year award of up to $3.2 million with a DOE share of up to $1.6 million, project to develop hybrid nano carbon fiber/graphene platelet-based high-capacity anodes for lithium batteries.
- EnerDel Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $3.3 million for a project to develop a chemical shuttle agent that will eliminate the danger of overcharging lithium ion batteries developed for plug in hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles.
- MaxPower Inc. of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $500,000 for a project aimed at adapting MaxPower's present battery management systems (BMS) for lithium-ion batteries to recognize the imminent appearance of an internal short and to take action to operate the battery in a safe state.
- North Carolina State University of Raleigh, North Carolina, teamed with American Lithium Energy LLC of San Marcos, California, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $1.35 million for a project to develop high-energy composite nanofiber anodes for materials for lithium ion batteries.
- SION Power Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $800,000 for a project aimed at demonstrating the viability of their lithium sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable battery chemistry for electric drive vehicles.
- TIAX LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been selected for negotiation of an award for up to $2.36 million for a project aimed at understanding and preventing internal short circuits in lithium ion cells. Results from the proposed program will help develop guidelines to enable development of technologies for safe battery packs, guidelines that will permit original equipment manufacturers to develop their own proprietary technologies for mitigating short-circuit induced safety incidents.
For more information, see the Vehicle Technologies Program Web site.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
meme 12:46PM (6/16/2009)
Woohoo - SION got a grant. :) I think LiS looks like the most promising post-li-ion tech so far.
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Dude 2:04PM (6/16/2009)
"Woohoo - SION got a grant. :) I think LiS looks like the most promising post-li-ion tech so far."
LiS = gunpowder. While it's an interesting chemistry and gives some benefits, the safety aspects just kill it.
meme 2:31PM (6/16/2009)
"LiS = gunpowder. While it's an interesting chemistry and gives some benefits, the safety aspects just kill it."
Where are you getting that from? LiS isn't gunpowder. The primary problem with LiS has been cycle life. And that's what the recent research appears likely to have solved via mesoporous carbon and hydrophobic surface coatings.
meme 2:41PM (6/16/2009)
Oh, and if you're trying to say that LiS is "like gunpowder": no, it's not. There are different kinds of gunpowder, but you're probably trying to make analogy to black powder -- which, like a LiS cell, contains both sulfur and carbon. But the overwhelming majority of what makes up black powder is potassium nitrate -- 75% KNO3, 10% S, 15% charcoal. That's the critical component, the oxidizer. A LiS cell has nothing like that.
Serge 3:49PM (6/16/2009)
I'm also glad to see resources poured into Sion Power, however small at the moment. Hopefully in partnership with BASF they will be able to address cycle life and get the commercial product going.
win39 1:36PM (6/16/2009)
Seems like a paltry amount of money especially compared to things like the corn subsidy or the amount of advertising by BP saying they are an alternative energy company.
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krepitor 2:31PM (6/16/2009)
I'm a bit worried. We have been polluting the air and oceans for so long and now (if this companies don't put money in safe/recyclable disposal) we'll be poisoning land with battery fluids...progress always has an obscure factor.
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meme 2:32PM (6/16/2009)
Exactly what chemical in these batteries do you think is so toxic?
Chris M 10:38PM (6/16/2009)
Apparently, he had heard somewhere that batteries had toxic lead (lead acid) and cadmium (NiCad) and mercury (no longer used) and assumed all batteries must be toxic.
No, there are many different types of batteries, there are several battery chemistries are not particularly toxic, especially compared to gasoline and motor oil.
kert 5:01PM (6/16/2009)
$20 mil ? how long does this keep the lights on at GM for ?
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Tama Manu 9:28PM (6/16/2009)
It appears that there is a rich amount of basic research to do on battery chemistry. These grants do appear to be a drop in the bucket, but good news none the less.
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cephus 4:20PM (6/17/2009)
what about Tesla? Weren't they hoping for a grant to buy a factory? That could be disappointing to anyone who pre-ordered a Model S. Maybe Daimler will come to the rescue...
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