The great battery race

(Fortune)--
At breakfast in New York last week, Jim Price, vice chairman and president of Chrysler Limited, announced that every new Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep is being designed so that it can adapt to gasoline
Electric hybrid system.
This is a huge change for Chrysler, which is technically challenging, and currently only sells two types of natural gas.
Electric hybrid car
They are all equipped with technologies developed by General Motors (GM, Fortune 500.
In fact, Press\'s statement is the most widely recognized by any manufacturer for hybrid vehicles --
Including Toyota
This represents a huge reversal in attitudes towards hybrid cars.
Only a few years ago, they were considered uneconomical curiosity, and now they are in the mainstream.
Although 13 hybrid models were sold in 2007, according to one statistic, more than 60 models are expected to be sold by 2011.
GM announced this week that it will offer at least 16 hybrid models by 2012.
In addition to rising gas prices and concerns about global warming, attitudes towards hybrid cars are also changing, driven by the rapid development of batteries used to drive them.
Not long ago, the battery appeared to be trapped in the 19 th century, a mature technology that is not developing fast.
But both veteran battery makers and ambitious start-ups are driving battery development at unimaginable speeds.
Replace nickel
The metal hydrogen battery used by Toyota Prius is lithium-
Ion batteries, originally designed for applications such as laptops and mobile phones. Lithium-
The ion battery provides twice the power, energy density and cycle life of the nickel metal
But less than half the weight and size and less than half the cost.
Mercedes-Benz announced last week that it will use lithium-
Upcoming S-ion battery
Class hybrid, according to auto news.
Mid in Europe-
2009, American after soon vehicle called S400 Bluetec mixed is said nearly 300 of horsepower and fuel economy almost 30 miles per gallon.
Mercedes\'s statement is the first production mode hybrid powered by lithiumion.
Merced\'s partner in battery development is Johnson Control (JCI, Fortune 500 )-
The batteries will be made in France and then assembled into modules.
GM says it will use lithium-
A new generation of hybrid batteries developed by Hitachi will be available in 2012.
Besides lithium-
Two other suppliers, including the A123 System, are developing ion batteries for their Chevrolet Volt plugin hybrid.
Other car manufacturers are also looking.
Nissan has established a joint venture with NEC and Toyota is working with Panasonic.
To lithium again-
Ion party is Ener1 based in Fort Lauderdale, which claims to produce the safest lithium
Ion batteries have a place in the world because of their simple thermal management system.
It may also be the only one made in the United States.
Ener1 is one of a dozen companies that GM screens for its Volt plug
On an electric car, but not successful.
Since then, it has signed a contract worth $70 million to supply batteries to all battery producers Think Electric
Electric vehicles in Norway.
You may remember that Ford Motor Company (F, Fortune 500) briefly owned Electric.
In the era of Jacques Nasser
Now it\'s back on its own, and plans to launch one or two
Electric car seat this year.
The new version doesn\'t look like a golf cart, but the kind of mini car that wealthy grandparents bought for their grandchildren.
Think believes it can sell 10,000 of these vehicles in the next two years.
With GE (GE, Fortune 500) announcing its investment in the Think and A123 Systems, these efforts have been pushed forward today (yes, also the system that works with GM) develop batteries for electric vehicles.
At the Geneva motor show, it showed a bigger electric car --
A car that can accommodate five people is closer to a sport utility vehicle in size.
Ener1 says it and the A123 System will split the original order for small electric vehicles.
Somehow, an electric SUV seems to be one step behind in the fight against global warming.
But this is another high signal.
Performance batteries are about to enter the mainstream.