USABC Awards $15 Million Battery Technology Development Contract to A123Systems

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), an organization composed of DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., today announced the award of a $15 million lithium iron phosphate battery technology development contract to A123Systems Inc..

USABC awarded the contract in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop lithium iron phosphate battery technology for hybrid-electric vehicle applications. The contract is for 36 months with a focus on systems that are high-power, abuse-tolerant and cost effective.

USABC is a consortium of the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR). Supported by a cooperative agreement with the DOE that provides up to 50% of the USABC budget, USABC's mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of fuel cell, hybrid and electric vehicles.

A123Systems' contract involves developing the next-generation lithium iron phosphate battery. The goals for this program are significant increases in power, reduction in cost, high abuse-tolerance and long battery life.

"We are pleased to announce USABC's award of this contract to A123Systems as part of USABC's broad battery technology research and development program," said Don Walkowicz, Executive Director of USCAR. "The program is essential to advance both near- and long-term goals for hybrid-electric vehicle transportation."