largest lithium ion automotive battery plant in North America
Today A123 Systems, developer and manufacturer of their Nanophosphate lithium batteries
, announced the grand opening of their manufacturing plant in Livonia Michigan. The plant will have a 600 megawatt-hour per year production capacity, and being located in a Detroit suburb makes it conveniently close to a major center of automobile manufacturing in the U.S. This factory is one (major) step in their expansion plans.A123 Systems has several years experience manufacturing lithium batteries, commercializing nano scale battery technology originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first commercial product made with their battery cells was a line of power tool battery packs for DeWalt. Their cell technology is no stranger to electric vehicles however, due to their extremely high power density. Power density is a major factor determining acceleration of a vehicle. The A123 cells are highly prized for this ranging from electric bicycle enthusiasts disassembling DeWalt battery to repurpose the cells into bicycle battery packs, to high powered race vehicles like the KillaCycle built by Bill Dube and the Lightning Motors motorcycle built by Richard Hatfield. A123 Systems also owns Hymotion, manufacturer of a plug-in Prius conversion kit.
The 600 megawatt-hour capacity of the Livonia plant will be a huge step towards their goal of 750 megawatt-hour capacity by the end of 2011. This plant has 291,000 square feet and will be focusing on their 20 amp-hour "prismatic" cells. A123's first cells were cylindrical in shape, and a "prismatic" cell is rectangularly shaped. The 600 megawatt-hour capacity of the plant corresponds to producing nearly 10 million 20 amp-hour cells per year. The capacity also corresponds to 40,000 vehicle battery packs per year (at 15 kilowatt-hours per pack).
This plant is due in part to government support. A year ago A123 Systems was awarded a $249M grant from the Dept of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. They received $125 million in state incentives from Michigan under the 21st Century Jobs Fund to help finance the plant. By incentivizing domestic production of electric vehicle components we avoid switching from a dependence on foreign oil to a dependence on foreign battery packs.
A123 Systems target markets are much wider than just electric vehicles. It includes portable electronics (such as the aforementioned DeWalt power tools) and smart grid applications.
There is huge market potential for advanced batteries like the ones made by A123 Systems. It's not just vehicle use but power storage and grid stabilization will be a major factor in enabling widespread use of renewable energy technology like wind and solar power. They clearly aim to become a major producer in this field but the chemistry they currently use is only a stepping stone. New battery technologies are being developed all the time, and in the due course of time a better battery than theirs will come along. It's exciting to see where this is leading.
largest lithium ion automotive battery plant in North America
By: Diana