GM awards pluggable hybrid battery contracts

While General Motors (NYSE: GM) today awarded contracts to two suppliers to design and test lithium-ion batteries for use in the company's forthcoming Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in hybrid SUV, the company is warning of many hurdles yet to be overcome.

One contract has been awarded to Johnson Controls - Saft Advanced Power Solutions LLC, a joint venture between Tier 1 automotive supplier Johnson Controls and Saft.

Another agreement was signed with Cobasys, based in Orion, Mich., a joint venture between Chevron Technology Ventures and Energy Conversion Devices. Cobasys will work in partnership with A123Systems, a privately held company based in Watertown, Mass., to develop its lithium-ion battery technology.

According to Denise Gray, GM's newly appointed director of hybrid energy storage systems, the companies will be challenged to prove the durability, reliability and potential cost at mass volumes of their technology.

"Thanks to critical relationships with the U.S. government, collaborative research with Ford and DaimlerChrysler under the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), significant progress has been made in battery research," said Gray. "But a lot of testing and development is still needed. Together, with our suppliers, we intend to address the issues relating to thermal management, storage capacity, recharge times, driving range and cost reduction."

Two test batteries, one from Cobasys - A123Systems and the other from Johnson Controls - Saft, will be evaluated in prototype Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in hybrids beginning later this year. While both are lithium-ion batteries, their chemistries differ significantly. The suppliers also use different methods in the design and assembling of the battery packs.

GM will be actively looking for more partners to bring lithium-ion technology to production. "These two agreements are by no means the only avenues we're pursuing," Gray said. "We are fully committed to forging the necessary partnerships to produce battery solutions that will meet our aggressive vehicle program targets."

This past fall, GM announced its intention to produce a Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in hybrid (see the Cleantech Group's GM pluggable hybrid reality check wanted) with the potential to achieve double the fuel efficiency of any current SUV.

GM is co-developing the 2-mode hybrid system with DaimlerChrysler and BMW Group for use in front-, rear- and four-wheel drive applications in an array of car and truck models. The 2-mode system debuts later this year in the Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon Hybrid SUVs.

General Motors is the world's largest automaker.