Lithium Technology Corp. (LTC, Plymouth Meeting, PA), a rechargeable lithium battery manufacturer, introduced a 288 V hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) battery at the 2004 Munich Electronics Trade Fair. The battery, developed by LTC's GAIA Europe Unit in Nordhausen, Germany, is expected to replace other energy storage devices in the next generation of hybrid vehicles.
Another one of LTC's GAIA brand HEV batteries was used by the Penn State University Future Truck Team in the 2004 Future Truck Competition held at Ford Motor Co.'s Proving Ground in June 2004. Batteries based on GAIA lithium-ion technology are one-third the weight and half the size of comparable lead-acid batteries. Compared with nickel-metal hydride batteries currently being used in Toyota and Honda HEVs, they are half the weight and two-thirds the size.
