U.S. fleet to buy Mississauga EV technology
GURINDER OSAN/AP
Tata Motors’ Indica model will be used to put highway-capable electric cars on European roads, thanks to lithium-ion battery and electricity management systems developed by Electrovaya of Mississauga.
Electrovaya Inc. is saying little except that a fleet operator will commit to use the Maya 300, a four-seater able to travel up to 180 kilometres between plug-ins and capable of more than 50 kilometres an hour.
The car – regulated to a lower top speed – would likely meet Ontario's new safety standards for "neighbourhood electric" vehicles, but it hasn't yet been tested, and the northeastern United States is a better launch market, says project manager Gitanjali DasGupta.
The details of the announcement are less important than the direction it points for the car industry.
The Maya 300 is a partnership. Its heart is a lithium-ion battery and electricity management systems developed by Electrovaya. The company has no interest in building the rest of the vehicle – what DasGupta calls "the glider ... bent metal with seats and, hopefully, a good sound system." That part is from Chana Motors, said to be China's fourth-largest carmaker.
Exxon Mobil Corp. is helping with marketing. The fossil-fuel giant is an "interesting bedfellow," DasGupta admits. But as oil gets scarcer and more valuable, Exxon foresees bigger profits from using it to produce plastics – including those in batteries – than burning it.
This fall, Electrovaya and another partner, Norway's Miljobil Grenland AS, are to put highway-capable electric cars on European roads; commercial sales are to start in 2010. Miljobil is a subsidiary of the massive energy company Norsk Hydro. India's Tata Motors, which owns Jaguar and Land Rover, has a stake in Norsk and will provide this vehicle's "glider," based on its five-passenger Indica model.
This is heady stuff for a company with 100 employees and sales last year of $1.5 million (U.S.). But while it's among big players, none are part of what's considered the conventional car industry.
It's also noteworthy that Electrovaya is providing its battery system – the subject of nearly 200 granted or pending patents – to other companies. In addition to the Maya and Indica projects, it's dealing with two other Chinese carmakers, California's Phoenix Motor Cars and Purolator. Its batteries are used in NASA's space shuttle and this weekend in one of the golf carts supporting the U.S. Open tournament.
"We won't be exclusive," DasGupta says. "You don't know who will be the pioneer."
Unlike traditional car companies that design, and define themselves, by their own engines, "glider" makers will choose a power system from an outside source. Since assembly is less complex than with internal combustion cars, it can be done in small plants near markets. Batteries are expensive to ship; they'll be made close to these assembly locations.
"The glider is the commodity element," DasGupta says. "There's a glut in supply. It's basically simple. A lot of people can produce it. ... It's not the knife-edge. The problem is the battery."
Electrovaya's experience taught it to not rely on one battery chemistry, DasGupta says. "It will continue to evolve ... you'll get left behind." The company's technology – winner of many awards and supported by $1.7 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada and, recently, a $16.7 million Ontario grant – is a structure that enhances the shifting of positive and negative charges. It could be adapted to any chemistry: Lithium now; eventually, perhaps, fluoride.
Another lesson: Don't expect too much, too fast, she says.
"The internal combustion engine is a beautiful piece of engineering, but they did that over 100 years, not overnight," DasGupta says.
"Requiring the new (electric battery) industry to be just as good or better all at once will kill it before it starts."
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