Ovonic Nickel Metal hydride Batteries Leading Choice to Power EVs
April 3, 1997---Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) (Nasdaq National Market: ENER) announced that its patented and proprietary Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Battery is quickly becoming the industry choice to power electric vehicles.
Mr. Robert C. Purcell, executive director of General Motors Advanced Technology Vehicles said, "Extensive testing of Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries in our electric vehicles continues to show positive results. Nickel Metal Hydride technology continues on track to be the next generation of batteries in our electric vehicles."
The NiMH technology was developed and patented by Ovonic Battery Co. (Ovonic), a subsidiary of ECD. Ovonic has continued to improve the battery to reach and exceed the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) mid-term goals for electric vehicle batteries. Recently in its Winter 1996 Report, the USABC noted, "NiMH has proven it can perform to mid-term standards." The USABC is a consortium of Chrysler, Ford, GM, DOE and EPRI formed to facilitate advanced battery development for EVs.
In a related development, ECD said today in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware that it is, willing and able to dispose of the patent infringement litigation against Matsushita Battery Industrial (MBI) since the MBI NiMH battery involved is a design, with much lower specific energy than targeted by the USABC, that does not infringe the Ovonic patent covering advanced positive electrodes. As part of the litigation settlement, ECD has requested that the scope of disposition of the case be limited to this specific MBI NiMH battery design. Ovonic's higher specific energy NiMH battery offers the EV industry more range on a single charge at a lower cost.
ECD's joint manufacturing venture with General Motors, GM Ovonic L.L.C., also announced that three years after forming the company, first generation NiMH batteries are being produced at its facility in Troy, Michigan using the first module of production intent equipment. Mr. John W. Adams, president of GM Ovonic, said, "We continue to make progress in demonstrating that the Ovonic technology is suitable for volume manufacturing. Our biggest challenge continues to be cost, and we are aggressively pursuing both manufacturing and technology improvements to meet cost targets." The GM Ovonic operation is on schedule to meet auto manufacturers EV battery requirements. Operating on a continuous improvement basis, phasing in advanced NiMH technology as it is validated, the GM Ovonic Battery will be available with a specific energy of 80 watt hours/kilogram and specific power of 220 watts/kilogram.
Mr. Stanford R. Ovshinsky, president and CEO of ECD said, "We are pleased that the Ovonic NiMH battery make EVs practical. With its robust, maintenance-free design, long life and total recyclability, the NiMH battery is ideally suited to power EVs." Mr. Robert C. Stempel, chairman of ECD, added, "The Ovonic NiMH battery is an engineered battery with characteristics that make it useful in applications ranging from consumer electronics to EVs and hybrid EVs." The Ovonic Battery Co. was founded in 1982 and the NiMH battery, first introduced in the late 1980's, is today made around the world by a number of licensees in a variety of sizes for consumer electronic applications. Ovonic NiMH batteries have been proven successful in these applications by the millions in use every day. ECD expects that its NiMH EV battery, manufactured by GM Ovonic, will achieve similar success in the battery powered, electric transportation market.