battery pack

  • A123 lithium-ion cells

    Despite unveiling what it says will be a revolutionary new vehicle battery last week, Massachusetts-based firm A123 Systems is fighting skepticism that it will become the “next Solyndra,” the California solar company that went bankrupt in August 2011 after receiving a $550 million loan guarantee from the U.S. government. “There are many differences between us and Solyndra,” said Andy Chu, A123’s vice president of marketing and communications, in a phone interview. “We’re very confident about our future, and we believe we’ll be around for the...

  • Nissan Leaf: Lost Battery Capacity
    2011 Nissan Leaf Battery Capacity Loss: Nissan Responds

    Just under a month ago, we reported a few cases in which owners of 2011 Nissan Leafs had noticed the first of twelve lights on their car’s battery capacity gauge had switched off, indicating a marked deterioration in battery capacity after just one year. Now Nissan has released an official...

  • A123 Systems Prismatic Cell
    A123: New Li-Ion Cell Performs Fine In High, Low Temperatures

    It's been a rough year for lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, but the Massachusetts company is forging ahead. This morning, it introduced a new battery technology it calls Nanophosphate EXT, which A123 says can operate at extreme temperatures without requiring the degree of heating or cooling...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt
    2013 Chevy Volt Gets 38-Mile Electric Range, Higher 98-MPGe Rating

    It may be hard to imagine, but the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car is about to enter its third model year. The new 2013 Chevrolet Volt will offer a slightly higher all-electric range, up from 35 to 38 miles. Its base price of $39,995 will not change. Next year's Volt will also receive a...

  • 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive (European version)
    Would Battery Leasing Ease Sticker Shock On Costly Electric Cars?

    There's no getting around it: Hybrids cost more than gasoline models, and plug-in electric cars cost a lot more than gas vehicles. Each type of green car cuts operating costs, either by raising gas mileage substantially or replacing gas costs with grid electricity that generally cuts the...

  • Nissan Leaf: Lost Battery Capacity
    2011 Nissan Leafs Start Losing Capacity Bars: Should You Worry?

    It had to happen some time, just not perhaps as quickly as this. Since Nissan’s all-electric Leaf hatchback launched in late 2010, many have been watching with interest to see how long it would be before the car’s 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack showed the gradual reduction in range and...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf: One Year Drive Report

    Electric cars, just like every other device or machine that relies on rechargeable batteries, slowly discharge over time. Leave them in low state of charge for too long, and their traction battery packs are destroyed. Which is why automakers like Nissan and Chevrolet recommend owners follow specific instructions before leaving their Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt cars for extended periods of time. As we’ve proven, a 2011 Nissan Leaf will lose a few miles of charge if left unplugged in a semi-charged state for 8 days. Leaving your car plugged into a suitable charging station while...

  • GM Battery Lab, Warren Technical Center
    Explosion Damage To GM Battery Lab Could Reach $5 Million

    A week ago we brought you the news that a chemical gas explosion had injured employees at GM's Alternative Energy Center in Warren. Five people were evacuated from the lab, and one employee remains in hospital following treatment for injuries resulting from the blast. Now, Detroit News reports that...

  • Lithium-ion battery pack of 2011 Nissan Leaf, showing cells assembled into modules
    Electric Car Battery Prices Fall: When Will Car Prices Follow?

    If you want something to blame for the relatively high prices of the current wave of electric cars, blame the cost of batteries. The technology required to produce the popular lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles isn't cheap, and that cost is passed on to the consumer. Bring down...

  • Lithium-ion battery pack installation in 2012 Ford Focus Electric at Wayne Assembly Plant
    2012 Ford Focus Battery Pack Cost: $12,000-$15,000, Says CEO

    Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of speculation surrounding the actual cost to automakers of the lithium-ion battery packs used in most modern electric cars. Unfortunately, the automotive industry hasn’t been keen to disclose any figures, but on occasion we’ve managed...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Honda Starts Hybrid Battery Pack Rare Earth Metal Recycling

    Over the past few decades, demand for rare earth metals, has dramatically increased. So called because they are difficult to find in large deposits and often difficult to mine, rare earth metals are used in everything from electronics devices to hybrid and electric car battery packs. Now increased...

  • A123 Systems Prismatic Cell
    Battery Cell Maker A123 Gets More Time To Use DoE Grant Funds

    This is a tough time for lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems, but the company did get one little piece of good news yesterday. The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to lengthen the time period over which A123 can use funds from a $249.1 million grant it received from the DoE in August 2009 to...

  • GM Battery Lab, Warren Technical Center

    UPDATE, Thu, April 12, 11:15 am: The Detroit News quotes an unnamed source this morning as saying that the battery pack being tested that caused yesterday's explosion at GM's Warren Technical Center contained lithium-ion cells from battery maker A123 Systems. The Chevrolet Spark EV is the only GM electric vehicle known to use a lithium-ion battery pack with cells supplied by A123 Systems. The Spark EV's recent Los Angeles validation testing was the subject of aggressive GM publicity last month. A123 Systems [NSDQ:AONE] has had a tough year, and this will not help. The company said it would...

  • 2004-2009 Toyota Prius battery pack, second generation
    How Long Will Your Electric Car Battery Last? Science Is On The Case

    We all know that battery packs are the biggest Achilles Heel of the electric car, which is why automakers like Nissan and General Motors are working hard to improve the energy density, cost and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries. But once you've designed a new battery pack, how do you prove its...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf: One Year Drive Report
    How Much Range Does Your Leaf Lose If You Unplug It For 8 Days?

    Remember Michael DeGusta, the guy who indadvertedly ‘bricked’ his oh-so-expensive Tesla Roadster after storing it in an almost-empty state for nearly two months? In the case of DeGusta’s Tesla, the car used most of the remaining charge trying to keep itself warm, but the story did...

  • BMW logo
    BMW To Develop Future Lithium-Ion Batteries With Toyota

    Lithium-ion battery cells are expensive, challenging, and time-consuming to develop. And they can be hard to get right, as the current woes of A123 Systems show. Even the large car companies that develop their own cells--Toyota is the largest among a small number--want to spread their costs. Today...

  • A123 Systems Prismatic Cell
    A123 Systems To Recall Electric-Car Battery Packs For Fisker, Others

    Hundreds of recalls a year get announced for gasoline cars, the vast majority completely under the radar. The high visibility of the electric-car business makes any recalls of batteries different, though. With that in mind, lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems [NSDQ:AONE] said this morning it will...

  • Tesla Motors - Model S lithium-ion battery pack
    How Much And How Fast Will Electric-Car Battery Costs Fall?

    You hear both sides of the battery cost question a lot when you cover electric cars. One side says, "Electric-car batteries will be brutally expensive for many years to come, so electric cars will never be practical." The other side believes, "With wonderful new discoveries coming out of labs and...

  • Cars Crushed Into Cubes

    It's an assertion that comes up a lot in comments on our stories. It goes, essentially, like this: No one recognizes the horrible pollution problems that will arrive when hybrid and electric cars are junked, and their nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion battery packs go into landfills. It's a worthwhile concern. But that's just not going to happen, for two reasons: (1) Automakers are well aware of the concern, and they already have programs set up. They're eager to reclaim and dispose of wrecked or defective battery packs from hybrids. Electric-car makers are doing the same. You may not know...

  • A123 lithium-ion cells
    Battery Maker A123 To Supply Cells For Tata Hybrid Buses

    Lithium-ion cell maker A123 Systems announced today that it would supply complete battery packs to Tata Motors, the largest vehicle maker in India, to be used in hybrid systems for commercial vehicles. The lithium-ion battery packs will first be deployed in city transit buses in the latter half of...

  • Envia Battery Technology
    New Battery Promises To Bring 300-Mile Electric Cars To The Masses

    Here at GreenCarReports, we’re fans of all-electric cars, but even we have to admit that most electric cars on the market today suffer from the same problem: limited range. But according to battery firm Envia Systems, the days of limited-range electric cars could soon be over, thanks to a new...

  • 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport. Photo by Joe Nuxoll.
    Is Tesla 'Bricking' Story Just An Angry Owner's Warranty Claim?

    And now perhaps it all becomes clear. The Tesla battery 'bricking' post that was today's electric-car news story and generated reams of coverage may simply be an attempt by an unhappy owner to get Tesla Motors to replace the battery in his Roadster. At least, that would appear to be the logical...

  • Tesla Roadster 2.5
    Tesla Battery 'Bricking': The Real Story Behind The Scare

    Late last night, a sensational blog post circulated through Silicon Valley. It claimed that several $100,000-plus Tesla Roadsters were now useless as the result of a "devastating design problem," with their battery packs "bricked" from being left too long without plugging in. Early this morning, we...

  • 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport. Photo by Joe Nuxoll.
    Bricking A Tesla Roadster Battery: Today's Electric Car Meme

    Heard of "bricking" yet? No? You will shortly. It's the phenomenon in which the lithium-ion battery pack of an electric car that's left unplugged for a long period goes completely, utterly dead--to the point where it cannot be recharged, and becomes a large, expensive "brick." [FURTHER UPDATE: Is...

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