Chevy Volt to get U.S.-made battery cells

Published May 06, 2013

Associated Press

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HOLLAND, Mich. –  An advanced battery maker said it plans to launch commercial production of automotive lithium-ion battery cells in western Michigan in July.

LG Chem Michigan Inc., a subsidiary of South Korean company LG Chem, announced Sunday night that test runs have begun at the facility in Holland and that it anticipates shipping products by the end of the summer.

The plant initially will manufacture batteries for General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt, it said, and production volume is expected to increase depending on the electric market and additional contracts. The company said it is working to expand future production.

“LGCMI remains committed to achieving the vision on which our Holland facility was built,” Sain Park, president at LGCMI, said in a statement.

LG Chem drew attention during its 2010 groundbreaking, when President Barack Obama traveled to Michigan for the event.

LG Chem had originally planned to install five assembly lines in Holland, and has set up three lines so far. The company said it is planning on finishing the remaining two lines by September 2015 and will proceed with the plan as they study market demand and other circumstances.

“Our plan is to operate the Michigan plant as a strategic location to meet customer needs, secure future orders and compete aggressively in the … battery market,” Park said.

In February, LG Chem said it reimbursed $842,000 in funding that federal officials say was misused as part of $150 million in stimulus money. A U.S. Energy Department audit said the company wasted federal funds and failed to move production to Michigan from South Korea.

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Google Glass is the future – and the future has awful battery life

By Zach Epstein

Published May 01, 2013

BGR

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The concept of wearable tech is really buzzing right now as pundits tout smart eyewear, watches and other connected devices as the future of tech. It makes sense, of course — smartphone growth is slowing and people need something to hold on to — but the early “Explorer” version of Google’s highly anticipated Google Glass headset has major problem that could be a big barrier for widespread adoption: Awful battery life.

Battery longevity is a problem that plagues all portable consumer electronics. Just imagine how much easier life would be if you could go days or even a week without charging your laptop, smartphone and tablet. Where smartphones are concerned, we have now accepted the reality of battery limitations and adopted the routine of charging our phones about once a day with normal usage.

Charging a handset once a day is fair for a portable device that has become such a core part of our lives. The bar has been set. And as industry watchers try desperately to convince us that wearable tech is the next big thing, serious concerns about battery life are now arising.

Things are looking good where smartwatches are concerned. The popular Pebble seems to go between five and seven days before it needs to be charged thanks to the low-power E Ink display, and Apple is reportedly aiming to build an “iWatch” that lasts between four and five days per charge. But for all the hype surrounding another category of wearable devices — connected eyewear — early tests with Google Glass suggest battery performance may be absolutely awful.

In a review of the Google Glass Explorer Edition headset, Engadget’s Tim Stevens paints a worrying picture of the device’s battery life. With what he considers to be average usage that included reading emails and capturing short videos as well as some photos, Glass only lasted Stevens five hours before it “unceremoniously shut itself down.” That’s pretty bad, but it gets worse. If the user captures longer videos and uses Glass a bit more regularly, Stevens believes the headset will only last “a couple of hours” before the battery dies.

A device that only lasts two hours between charges is not the future of tech.

Google’s Explorer Edition headsets may still undergo some changes before Google Glass launches next year, and battery life clearly needs to be a focus if Glass is to be anything beyond an expensive niche toy destined to gather dust in a drawer a few short weeks after being purchased.

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Boeing says new battery system ensures 787 Dreamliner safety

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  Aug. 26, 2011: A 787 Dreamliner sits on the tarmac at Boeing Commercial Airplanes manufacturing facilities at Paine Field, Everett, Washington during the jetliner's certification event.Reuters

TOKYO –  Boeing Co.'s chief engineer for the 787 Dreamliner said Saturday that changes to the lithium-ion battery system are fully sufficient to ensure the aircraft's safety, although the company has been unable to find the cause of the original battery failures earlier this year that led to groundings of the plane worldwide since mid-January.

Michael Sinnett gave a briefing on the revamped battery to reporters in Tokyo after Japanese and U.S. regulators gave carriers permission to resume 787 flights once battery modifications are made.

The new battery system is designed to prevent a fire, and to contain one should it occur with an "enclosure," a casing around the battery to prevent heat from being released in the aircraft, Sinnett told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Even if we never know root cause, the enclosure keeps the airplane safe, it eliminates the possibility of fire, it keeps heat out of the airplane, it keeps smoke out of the airplane, and it ensures that no matter what happens to the battery, regardless of root cause, the airplane is safe," he said, adding "in some ways it almost doesn't matter what the root cause was."

He said Boeing has identified over 80 potential causal factors and addressed all of them in the new design.

The 50 Dreamliner jets in service worldwide were grounded in mid-January after incidents with smoldering batteries occurred aboard two different planes, leading to hundreds of cancelled flights and revenue losses.

Japan's two biggest carriers have the most 787s -- All Nippon Airways owns 17 of the jets, while Japan Airlines has seven. They have begun installing the new batteries over the last week, and airline officials said commercial flights would resume around June as the safety improvements are expected to take several weeks to finish.

It takes five days to completely retrofit one airplane, Sinnett said, and repairs to nine jets are almost complete. New batteries are being shipped from Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa to the airlines, he said.

ANA is planning to conduct a test flight using a modified Dreamliner in Japan on Sunday.

The only U.S. airline using the 787 is United Airlines, which owns six.

Japan is mandating additional safety measures including one test flight after the new system is installed. Operators will need to monitor the new battery system during flight and authorities will require airlines to conduct a detailed sampling inspection of the batteries after a certain period of use.

Special training for all on board personnel including the pilot on 787s is mandated, and airlines are to disclose information on safety measures taken on the 787 to the public.

Boeing has 840 purchase orders of the plane so far.

Sinnett declined to comment on cost for repairs worldwide. He plans to meet with executives from ANA and JAL during his Japan trip.

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