Advanced Automotive Battery Conference,
Baltimore, MD, USA
May 15-19, 2006

The rising worldwide interests in hybrid electric vehicles were well represented at the 6th Annual Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference (AABC). More than 500 representatives from automakers, systems developers, battery developers, materials suppliers, governments, academics, investors and general observers from around the world converged in Baltimore, Maryland, in mid-May to see the latest advances in batteries and ultracapacitors and the implications for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV).

The AABC and Symposium Programs

The conference started on Monday with three informative tutorials on large Li-ion battery design, material choices and applications. It continued on Tuesday with two parallel symposia: large lithium-ion battery technology and application (LLIBTA) and large ultracapacitor technology and application (UCAP).

The AABC main conference consisted of five sessions: Markets (four talks chaired by Dave Hermance of Toyota), Micro Hybrids (five talks chaired by Thomas Keim of MIT), Mild Hybrids (six talks chaired by Matthias Ullrich of Volkswagen), Full Hybrids (five talks chaired by Ted Miller of Ford), and Specialty Vehicles/Plug-In Hybrids (six talks chaired by Tien Duong of the U.S. Department of Energy). Each session was followed by a panel discussion.

The LLIBTA Symposium

With three sessions covering Li-ion battery life, new materials and application development, the LLIBTA Symposium was particularly lively this year. There was continued reinforcement of the idea that Li-ion batteries are getting very close to breaking into automotive and related large battery applications. Debates relative to life limitations, abuse tolerance and material selection for maximum performance and cost followed the presentations by key cell and material developers. In session 2, keynote presentations on cathode, anode and electrolytes by Professors Wittingham and Winter set off the background to numerous short presentations by material developers. During session 3, Li-ion migration into power tools was discussed and was seen as a bridge toward implementation of Li-ion in automotive areas.

The UCAP Symposium

In spite of the competition with the LLIBTA session in the adjoining room, over 130 delegates participated in the UCAP symposium. The three sessions reviewed material and cell design; pack design and application development; and progress with asymmetric high-energy ultracapacitors

Of note was the presentation by Dr. Cyrus Ashtiani from DaimlerChrysler, stressing the importance of the high/low temperature power of UCAP compared to batteries and the need to sustain that advantage or else Li-ion batteries will win over UCAP in the marketplace.

Sixth Annual Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference (AABC)

The Market Session:

There was a consensus among speakers in the first session that the market for hybrid vehicles will grow steadily, exceeding one million vehicles per year around 2010. Scott Miller of Snovate Motoresearch provided some fascinating insights into the HEV market. He reported that consumers expect hybrids to provide better fuel economy with no trade-offs in performance. Later, under questioning, Miller expressed his opinion that Toyota’s HEV offerings have boosted their overall vehicle sales because HEV interest has increased traffic in showrooms. Menahem Anderman of Advanced Automotive Batteries argued that the next few years belonged to full hybrids with nickel metal hydride batteries supplied mainly by PEVE and Sanyo, but that the supplier base and battery chemistry will expand past 2009. However, there are opportunities for VRLA and ultracapacitors in micro-hybrids. Hideo Takeshita of the Institute of Information Technology, Ltd. predicted that Li-ion batteries would be introduced in the next few years and reach parity with NiMH batteries by 2015.

Micro Hybrids:

The second session contained a mix of talks. Helmut Ollhauser of Alcoa Fujikura argued that micro hybrids (cars that provide start/stop functionality and regenerative braking) could be produced at relatively low cost, and if widely adopted would significantly reduce oil consumption. Peter Miller of Ricardo agreed that low cost micro hybrids were possible and argued that two energy systems might be necessary for safety to provide back-up power for brakes and steering. Toyota, in fact, does use an ultracapacitor to provide power for braking and Yoshitaka Kambe of Toyota described the ultracapacitor in detail. Thomas Keim of MIT presented a reasoned but radical argument that the current strategy for HEV of using the energy from regenerative braking to assist in accelerating the vehicle is not as efficient as using that energy for cruising with the gasoline engine turned off. Mark Verbrugge of General Motors ended the session with an extremely lucid presentation on a novel experimental system for robust verification and validation of energy management schemes at the cell level.

Mild Hybrids and Upcoming Battery Suppliers:

Half the talks in the third session dealt with battery developers. Kevin Konecky of Cobasys introduced the company and its Ni/MH product offerings. Jeon Keun Oh of SK Corp. described the company and its work on developing Li Ion batteries for the HEV market. SK Corp. has made a significant effort to develop complete HEV battery systems based on pouch cells; they plan to be in commercial production in 2010. Andy Chu of A123 Systems described their lithium-ion phosphate technology. A123 Systems is offering 2.3Ah 26650 cells with a pulse power density of 3.3kW/kg (5 s). The cells do not go into thermal runaway on heating and can be cycled thousands of times at 45°C or below.

The remaining talks of the third session did address the issue of mild hybrids. Don Karner of Electric Transportation Applications described the progress made in ALABC’s high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) research. Working with NorthStar Battery, the problem of HRPSoC appears to be largely solved, mainly by addition of carbon to the negative. Karner presented a cost analysis that indicates VRLA is preferred over ultracapacitors, but that conclusion depends on the life of VRLA, which is still an open question. Rainer Knorr from Seimens VDO described the European SUPERCAR project that is evaluating ultracapacitors in mild hybrids. The work shows that around a 15% increase in fuel economy can be achieved. This finding was consistent with the analysis reported by Dr. Ahmad Pesaran of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Pesaran’s study shows that mild hybrids achieve <20% increase in fuel economy while full hybrids achieve >35%.

Batteries for Strong Hybrids:

The fourth session dealt with full hybrids and started off with an insightful introduction by Ted Miller of Ford. Ted explained that micro and mild hybrids were difficult to sell because of the relatively small increase in fuel economy. The other extreme of HEV technology – plug-in hybrids – are problematic because the large swings in state-of-charge shorten battery life. Full hybrids are the happy medium, providing significant increases in fuel economy with long battery life, and so dominate the market. Kazuo Tojima of Toyota then described the improvements Toyota has realized in NiMH batteries: for example, the specific power is double now over the original battery. Both Kazuhiko Aitaka of Honda and Ikuo Yonezu of Sanyo described improvements in Sanyo’s NiMH batteries used in Honda’s Civic: for example, the life of the battery has been improved by increasing the oxidation resistance of the metal hydride. On the Li-ion side, Chika Amemiya of NEC Lamilion Energy Ltd. presented modeling results that predict over ten years of use for their pouch cells. Yoshiyuki Ozaki of Panasonic described the work done by Panasonic to develop high-power Li-ion battery prototypes for HEV.

Specialty Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrids:

The fifth and final session dealt with the hot topic of plug-in hybrids. Tien Duong from the U.S. Department of Energy started the session by giving an overview of programs run by the DOE. The audience was somewhat underwhelmed by the DOE’s funding for plug-in hybrids, which would only be $7 million, despite the fact that President Bush had stated it as an important government priority. Tien reiterated Ted Miller’s statement that battery life was the “showstopper” for plug-in hybrids. Tony Markel of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory gave a good analysis of plug-in hybrids that verified the potential for significant fuel savings above today’s full hybrids. Rick Gunthner of Johnson Controls-Saft stated that the newly created joint venture is developing prototype batteries for the expected market. The Q&A for this session was particularly lively as the audience was polarized as to the technical and mostly commercial viability of the plug-in concept.



The meeting was enhanced by the simultaneous Japanese/English translation service.

Besides the sessions, the conference offered many opportunities for networking with a vast international group of developers and users of automotive batteries. In fact, several technical specialists from the car companies mentioned that they were being overwhelmed by inquiries from prospective suppliers. The networking took place during poster sessions, wine receptions and coffee breaks. Exhibits at AABC are on the increase, and this year special exhibits were provided by Electro Energy, who displayed a hybrid vehicle powered by a bipolar Ni/MH battery, and A123 Systems, who provided power drills for attendees to try drilling through boards.

The AABC staff delighted attendees by their attentiveness and gifts. The conference included a superb dinner at Baltimore’s aquarium and three lively wine receptions. As one has come to expect from AABC, the organization of the conference was top-notch.