# The Electric Car Battery Battle



## EVDL Archive (Jul 26, 2007)

Jim Kingsdale sees race between lithium ion and upgraded NiMH batteries over the next five years.

More...


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Fine by me. I'll adapt the car for whatever works best when the time comes install the bettery in the car. That way the car can stay up to date with the changing times and will not have to be discarded as better technology comes along.


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## xrotaryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

Hmmm... it sounds to me like Nimh has some catching up to do. Assuming that the 3,000 cycles claim of certain LiFePO4 battery manufacturers is true, and assuming that those same batteries can be quick-charged to 80% etc, etc, etc, Li ion has already won. I guess if you can make the Nimh batteries cheaper, then that counts for something, but the gold standard looks like Li ion at this point. Who knows, perhaps Nimh is on the verge of competing head to head. We shall see.


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## 59921 (Aug 8, 2008)

Battery/hybrid cars could drive battery demand sky high.
What battery companies stand to profit from this?
I would like to invest in it.


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## xrotaryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

A123 and Thundersky are the two companies that come to mind for me. These companies are at opposites ends of the spectrum quality wise, but they are both big players in their own ways. 

A123 has been making Li ion batteries for cordless tools for a few years now and, to my knowledge, they have not had any problems. Also, they are currently making the best PHEV conversion for the Prius on the market. Their kit (which they obtained by way of buying out Hymotion) has actually been crash tested. In fact, the kit is so good that a hand full of Toyota dealerships have been approved my Hymotion/A123 to install conversions for them. If a Toyota dealership thinks it's good, you know it's a backed my solid development. Furthermore, A123 is one of the battery manufacturers that GM has chosen to supply batteries for the Volt.

Unfortunately, A123 does not sell cells to the public - they do not cater to the hobbyist.

Thundersky is making batteries and selling them to hobbyists. Actually, Thundersky sells complete systems to customers (batteries, custom charger, custom BMS, etc) Their product is not well known for its quality, but they are evidently getting better. They're likely to be a big player as EVs become more common.


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