ATVM Loan Programs: Decisions Imminent?

August 27, 2009: XP Vehicles, Inc., a California-based electric car maker was notified by the U.S. Department of Energy (US-DOE) that their Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program application had been rejected.

Based on this outcome it appears the rest of the decisions from the US-DOE on the successful recipients of the ATVM Loan Programs are now imminent. These decisions are bound to have a profound and lasting effect on the future success of the advanced Li-ion battery industry in the US. Several US battery companies (for example, A123 Systems, Valence Technology, AltairNano and others) have applied for ATVM Loans in order to fund the large scale manufacturing of large format Li-ion batteries in the US.

LiVPO4F: The Ideal Lithium-ion Cathode Material?

It is just possible that lithium vanadium fluorophosphate, LiVPO₄F, represents the perfect cathode material choice for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. Look at some of its characteristics:

1. Excellent Energy Density. The combination of high operating voltage (around 4.2 V vs Li) and specific capacity (theoretical , 155 mAh/g) means that LiVPO₄F based Li-ion cells will have a similar energy density to conventional lithium cobalt oxide based chemistry.

2. Inherent Safety. Accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC) tests of the reactions between delithiated LiVPO₄F and 1 M LiPF₆ EC:DEC electrolyte showed that the thermal stability of LiVPO₄F is even better than LiFePO₄.

3. Cell Lifetimes. Lithium-ion testing of LiVPO₄F shows excellent cycle life behavior. It is predicted that these cells will cycle more than 1000 times while exhibiting less than 20 % capacity fade. This is superior performance to conventional Li-ion chemistry.

4. Material Costs. Both the vanadium raw materials and the preferred synthesis method (carbothermal reduction) are low cost.

5. Large Format. The electrochemical, safety and cost properties of the LiVPO₄F make it ideal for large format applications.

Check out the links below for more details:

doi:10.1016/j.ssi.2006.04.049

10.1016/j.elecom.2008.12.052

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.03.126

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2008.08.024

US Recovery Act Awards - A123 and Johnson Controls are Big Winners

The US government has recently announced the recipients of the $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). See below for more details:

Recovery Act Awards

These projects, selected through a highly competitive process by the Department of Energy (DOE), are intended to accelerate the development of US manufacturing capacity for batteries and electric drive components as well as the deployment of electric drive vehicles.

Of the total funding budget, $1.5 billion in grants was awarded to US-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity. The major winners in this round were A123Systems ($ 249.1 million) and Johnson Controls ($299.2 million).

According to the Green Car Congress website, the announcement marks the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made. Industry officials expect that this $2.4 billion investment, coupled with another $2.4 billion in cost-share from the award winners, will result directly in the creation tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the US battery and auto industries.

Proliferation of US Battery Startups

With the increasing demand for Li-ion battery technology - especially in the large format automotive market - there has been a proliferation of new US-based battery startup companies. Clearly this issue has also been influenced by the billions of dollars in US government funds on offer as part of the Obama stimulus package.

A recent report ('13 Battery Startups Hitting the Road with Lithium-ion') has highlighted the current status of some of these new companies. Of particular note are A123 Systems, Boston-Power and Imara. What is also interesting is that the report acts only as a snapshot - there are in fact several other startups that the report fails to mention.

In addition, longer established US companies such as Valence Technology, EnerDel and AltairNano are also very active.

In summary, the sector appears incredibly buoyant at the moment. It makes me wonder how long this will remain. As soon as the US government decides where it wants to invest its billions of dollars there may then have to be considerable consolidation.