a123 systems Archives – The Green Optimistic

Tesla Motors Needs a Competitor, Will Fisker Automotive Step Up?

Benji Jerew — Mon, 19 May 2014 17:04:11 +0000

Tesla Motors, for now, is the undisputed leader in electric vehicle technology, but could the resurrected Fisker Automotive be a good competitor? No, I’m not talking about Fisker Automotive’s stalled lineup of extended-range electric vehicles (EREV), such as the Fisker Karma (a $100,000 Chevy Volt?). The truth is, you just don’t bring a hybrid vehicle […]

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Wanxiang Group Reinventing Fisker Automotive

Benji Jerew — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:35:58 +0000

Fisker Automotive doesn’t exactly have a long history, being founded just seven years ago, but it surely has been a rough history. Multiple problems beset the company and, in spite of promising extended-range electric vehicle technology, Fisker Automotive eventually ceased all production and declared bankruptcy. Wanxiang America, part of Chinese automobile parts giant Wanxiang Group, […]

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Envia Systems Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Company Faces Legal Problems

Benji Jerew — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:06:04 +0000

Of course, A123 Systems was not the only lithium-ion battery company to arise just as plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles were coming onto the market. A123 Systems, an advanced lithium-ion battery manufacturer, and Fisker Automotive, maker of a high-end extended-range electric vehicle, might only be the most famous because of their failures. On the […]

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Fisker Automotive Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Benji Jerew — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 20:04:16 +0000

It seems like its been a long time in coming, but Fisker Automotive has finally declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. After taking out $192 million in US Department of Energy [DOE] loans and better than $500 million from private investors, Fisker Automotive had a very difficult time getting on a roll. The Fisker Karma, and future […]

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Electric Vehicle Batteries for 400% Range Developed by SolidEnergy

Benji Jerew — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:52:20 +0000

If anyone thought that Tesla Motors’ electric vehicle was the peak of rechargeable battery technology, it seems good to note that we’re just getting started, that is, the peak is still somewhere in the clouds. A123 Systems, long since failed and resurrected by Wanxiang Group, is a developer of advanced-technology lithium-ion [Li-Ion] rechargeable batteries. Instead […]

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A123 Systems, Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Technology Company Gets New CEO

Benji Jerew — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 21:51:01 +0000

In October 2012, A123 Systems filed for bankruptcy, citing poor sales of electric and extended range electric vehicles, its prime target market. Now, it’s time to switch targets, if not technologically speaking, then regionally. A123 Systems, an advanced-technology battery developer, was simply ahead of its time, before the electric-vehicle boom, as well as too specialized, […]

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Fisker Automotive Loan to be Auctioned – DOE Mostly Likely Will Lose

Benji Jerew — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:18:21 +0000

I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but the chips just didn’t fall right for Fisker Automotive. Fisker’s defaulted loan is now up for auction. In the beginning, Fisker Automotive had been awarded $529 million in guaranteed loans, from DOE’s [Department of Energy] Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, about four years […]

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Fisker Automotive Blames Battery Maker A123 for Failure

Benji Jerew — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:17:08 +0000

With the recent news that Fisker Automotive is looking at bankruptcy, the next obvious step, aside from selling off assets, is to figure out who is to blame. Fisker Automotive and A123 Systems could be inextricably linked in the minds of investors and politicians, seeing as A123 was the sole supplier of advanced lithium-ion battery […]

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New Technology Incubator, A123 Systems Reborn

Benji Jerew — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:46:28 +0000

Business goes on, and while A123 Systems sank slowly into bankruptcy, that doesn’t mean it’s over. Part of A123 split off as B456 [obviously] so that Wanxiang could liquidate it for the bankruptcy proceedings. The main part of A123 Systems, now a subsidiary of Wanxiang Group in China, has been relaunched as a technology incubator. […]

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24M's Liquid Battery Can Be Filled With Sludgy Electrodes, Cuts Price in Half

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:19:00 +0000

24M, a spin-off from battery maker A123 has published a paper which describes a new type of battery that would outperform any existing lithium ion unit designed for electric vehicles. Today's lithium batteries are bulky and heavy just because there's a lot of extra material in them that doesn't have anything with the storage of energy, but merely with supporting the active "ingredients."

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New York to Have 20 MW Energy Storage System Using Li-ion Batteries

Mike Sandru — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:51:35 +0000

The energy storage system will use advanced lithium-ion batteries and will prevent pollution by reducing carbon emissions and focusing on renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.

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9 Electric Car Battery Factories Opened in Michigan: Experts Say Too Many

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:07:31 +0000

Michigan, once a prosperous area for the auto industry, saw a decline once the economy collapsed. Now, because of government incentives through grants under the Recovery Act, nine electric car battery factories have reborn there, creating new jobs and putting things on track again.

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