The US zinc-air battery technology specialist Arotech Corporation announced on 25 October that its Battery and Power Systems Division had received an order to develop three prototypes of a lithium battery for hybrid electric vehicles from an unnamed German automotive supplier. The first prototypes are due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2013.
The contract marks Arotech’s entry into the hybrid electric vehicles market. In the past, the company has developed zinc air batteries under its Electric Fuel brand that have powered EVs for more than 250km/156 miles in a single discharge.
“This is our second notable contract for large format lithium-ion, and represents a strategic step to balance our significant and growing business in the military power sources market,” said Arotech Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert S Ehrlich. “Having learned important lessons from our previous foray into the electric vehicle market, we are determined to minimise risk by only undertaking profitable projects,” continued Ehrlich.
In 2005 Arotech’s Electric Fuel subsidiary was a co-founder of a Zinc Energy Storage Technology (ZEST) Consortium, which focused on the civilian vehicle market in Asia, hoping for a market to emerge from a reported plan for the Chinese government and the Shanghai municipal government to cooperate in the green renovation of Shanghai’s 18,000 buses. Arotech subsequently focused its battery efforts on US and foreign military contracts. Arotech’s Battery and Power Systems Division is a provider of primary and rechargeable batteries and chargers for military applications. It believes itself to be the sole supplier of zinc-air battery technology to the US military.
