Altairnano Pens Development Agreements with Electro Energy and Boshart
Altair Nanotechnologies (Altairnano) announced today that it has entered a two-year joint development agreement for the design and engineering of a full-speed electric vehicle (EV) with Boshart Engineering. This follows yesterday's announcement that Altairnano and Electro Energy, Inc. have entered into a four-year joint development agreement for the design, manufacture and marketing of high power lithium ion batteries and battery systems. Initial target markets for yesterday's announcement consist of a variety of portable devices, including hand-held power tool applications.
Under the terms of the earlier agreement, Altairnano and Electro Energy will jointly develop a new generation of rechargeable batteries based on Altairnano's advanced nano-structured electrode materials and Electro Energy's patented bipolar cell design. Both companies believe that the combined technologies will create a range of new lithium ion batteries that are expected to enable, for example, hand-held power tool manufacturers to deliver end user products with improved functionality and cost performance. If the companies are successful in developing these new lithium ion battery products, power tools using these batteries are expected to weigh less, recharge in minutes versus hours, and have a significantly improved cycle life.
"Altairnano's nano-structured lithium ion electrode materials provide an outstanding combination of performance properties including rapid charge, increased power, long life and safety," commented Altairnano President and CEO Alan J. Gotcher, Ph.D. "The Joint Development Agreement with Electro Energy presents both companies with considerable opportunities to capture markets demanding battery performance with significantly more power and energy in extreme environments. Electro Energy has strong relationships with leading manufacturers of cordless power tools as well as organizations within the military and aerospace industry. The battery performance requirements within these markets may provide excellent commercial opportunities for Altairnano's battery materials and products," added Gotcher.
Altairnano and Boshart Engineering will jointly develop a prototype EV. The Altairnano-Boshart EV will showcase both companies' respective technologies: Altairnano's battery technology and Boshart Engineering's vehicle integration and electric vehicle conversions. Boshart has years of experience in the vehicle testing industry, including EV projects, and has worked with domestic and foreign automotive manufacturers.
The Altairnano-Boshart EV program is expected to include long distance drives at conventional highway speeds, testing the EV's endurance in high altitudes and extreme weather conditions. Road testing of the EV is expected to begin by the fourth quarter of 2006.
