Comments on: Why A123Systems Lost the Volt Battery Deal

By: Compact Power’s Electric Car Power Plays

Compact Power’s Electric Car Power Plays — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:36:46 +0000

[...] Back when GM announced that it would be using Compact Power cells in the battery pack for the Chevy Volt, Bob Lutz (GM’s vice chairman at the time) explained to the Michigan Business Review that the automaker decided against A123 in part because it was “still sort of a startup, they’re still ramping up….LG Chem is just farther along.” (Another key factor was that LG Chem had more experience with prismatic, or flat cells, as opposed to the cylindrical cells A123 has made for power tools.) [...]

By: How the Volvo-Geely Deal Plugs Into the Green Car Race

How the Volvo-Geely Deal Plugs Into the Green Car Race — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:26:53 +0000

[...] auto manufacturers switch battery suppliers when going from pilot to production.” (Just ask A123Systems and Advanced Lithium Power.) Still, he said EnerDel, “is likely to receive greater [...]

By: The New Smart Grid Players: Korea, Japan, China, Oh My!

The New Smart Grid Players: Korea, Japan, China, Oh My! — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:01:52 +0000

[...] space could also instantaneously give it a leg up in energy storage for the smart grid. LG Chem competed directly with A123Systems (a AONE) for the Volt deal and won, and will no doubt be competing with A123Systems and other players in the grid storage [...]

By: CDJdude

CDJdude — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:54:02 +0000

The A123 batteries are safer, but the transition metal cathodes put forward by most EV battery companies including LG are a far cry safer than the old LiCoO3 computer batteries. The A123 batteries besides being cylindrical (which makes the packs have a lower energy density) also have lower energy density cathode (you know, that thing that was supposed to be A123s strength was also in some ways their weakness). To be fair though, the A123 batteries can acheive pretty impressive current density. It suprising to me that someone hasn't tried to develope a combo battery having two different cathodes, that is a portion of the battery could be high current LiFePO4 and another the more typical higher energy transition metal cathodes. On another note, I am constantly amazed at the slowness with which new information is disseminated to the general public, or, maybe it's the pace of the uptake that is slow, or, maybe it's both, because people sure don't catch on very fast.

By: Tipping Point: A123Systems’ Road to the Battery Slam Dunk

Tipping Point: A123Systems’ Road to the Battery Slam Dunk — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:01:54 +0000

[...] than a year after startup A123Systems lost a battle for what could be one of the biggest plug-in vehicle battery supply deals in the country — [...]

By: A123Systems Takes a Post-Stimulus & Bailout Look at IPO

A123Systems Takes a Post-Stimulus & Bailout Look at IPO — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:01:20 +0000

[...] in recent months, another important shift has taken place. Whereas A123 in November touted its relationship with General Motors as a point of strength — an example of its “industry-leading partners in focused [...]

By: A123 SYSTEMS « My Blog

A123 SYSTEMS « My Blog — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:35:11 +0000

[...] that advanced battery technology is a key component of the country’s competitiveness.” http://earth2tech.com/2009/01/12/why-a123systems-lost-the-volt-battery-deal/ Car battery maker A123 scores $15M more from GE Camille Ricketts | April 13th, 2009 A123 Systems, [...]

By: Obama MPG Proposal Raises Stakes for Green Car Tech

Obama MPG Proposal Raises Stakes for Green Car Tech — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:43:46 +0000

[...] LG Chem over runner-up A123Systems as the supplier for its Chevy Volt battery cells in part to avoid the risk that comes with working with a young [...]

By: Battery Maker A123Systems Charges Up With $69M

Battery Maker A123Systems Charges Up With $69M — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:10:25 +0000

[...] A123Systems looks like it’s making its way through the haze of the downturn, despite that lost deal to supply batteries to GM’s ( s GM) Volt and a stalled IPO. The good news started last week when the lithium ion battery maker announced a [...]

By: A123Systems: Dissed by GM, Scores Battery Deal with Chrysler

A123Systems: Dissed by GM, Scores Battery Deal with Chrysler — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:31:23 +0000

[...] Today’s announcement highlights differences in the strategies at Chrysler and General Motors as the two automakers endeavor to show progress on cleaner cars. A123 plans to build a plant in Michigan to make modules and battery packs for Chrysler’s vehicles using prismatic (as opposed to cylindrical) lithium-ion cells — a technology with which GM decided the startup had yet to gain much experience, as we explained in our post about why A123 lost the Volt battery deal. [...]

By: Battery Man

Battery Man — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:06:33 +0000

Problem is that LG uses a different chemistry for their cathodes. This chemistry is not nearly as reliable or safe as the Fe-phosphate materials that A123 uses.

By: GM to Spend $30M on Volt Battery Assembly Plant « Earth2Tech

GM to Spend $30M on Volt Battery Assembly Plant « Earth2Tech — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:01:01 +0000

[...] Korea’s LG Chem (s LGCL Y). The facility is just the latest development in a race between A123Systems, which lost the Chevy Volt cells deal, and GM to create a large-scale lithium-ion battery plant in [...]

By: Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Green Ink: Oil Falls, Pickens Stalls

Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Green Ink: Oil Falls, Pickens Stalls — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:17:21 +0000

[...] Just as software beat hardware to become the key to computing, batteries will be the future of the automotive industry, argues the L.A. Times. Which could be why GM will build its electric-car batteries in-house, in the WaPo. Thats bad news for A123, which was vying for the GM battery deal, at Greentech Media and Earth2Tech. [...]

By: DS

DS — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:15:19 +0000

Since GM is on it's Deathbed, it suspect the price they offered A123 was pathetic.