Exhibiting at the Battery Council International convention are Jeff Snell and Rolf Beckers of Digatron Firing Circuits.

The 2007 convention of the Battery Council International was an outstanding example of how an industry can rally together to share information. This annual event supports the lead-acid battery industry, offering papers directed at the industry’s sales projections, regulatory issues and pricing projections for lead, sulfuric acid and polypropylene. The convention was well supported with more than 500 in attendance.

The BCI staff and committee chairs did their best to select a great venue and an even better convention program. The annual Power Mart Trade Fair was also well subscribed with 48 manufacturers and suppliers to the industry displaying their products and services. The annual BCI golf tournament was held at “The Wizard” with more than 100 players enjoying the gorgeous weather. The golf tournament was followed by a fantastic evening reception at the Ripley’s Aquarium, which was generously sponsored by the BCI Suppliers Group.

The convention itself is a mixture of technical, marketing and legislation-related presentations. There are also the committee meetings that are open to all members of the BCI and deal with topics ranging from product information, materials, battery testing, product safety, chargers, data-books for battery users and other technical issues. This year we were also invited to attend a luncheon in honor of the 100th anniversary of C&D Technologies, a major manufacturer of lead-acid batteries for UPS, stationary and traction applications. Other companies celebrating anniversaries this year were Bitrode Corp. with 50 years and JBI Corp. at 25 years. The final morning of the convention featured the annual breakfast meeting of the “BCI Quarter Century Club”. This club boasts having more than 300 members, 14 of which are also members of the “BCI One-Half Century Club”. The next BCI Convention and Power Mart Trade Fair is scheduled to be held in Tampa, Florida, on April 25-27, 2008.

2006 Battery Shipment Review and Three-Year Forecast

Harry Seibert of Daramic LLC presented facts and figures beginning with the global light vehicle production (GLVP) numbers. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, GLVP reached 64.6 million units in 2006 and will hit 74 million units by 2011. In Europe light vehicle (LV) production was at 17.9 million units in 2006 and will reach 20.1 million units by 2011. In Asia-Pacific there were 24.4 million units produced in 2006 and this will grow to 28.6 million units by 2011. Japan represents 43% of these production numbers but China, India and Thailand will have the highest growth over the new four years. In North America we have seen a decline in light vehicle production since 2002 (16.3 million units) to 2006 where 15.2 million units were produced. This downward trend is expected to be reversing and by 2011 North America will be producing more than 16.3 million units again.

A larger and more substantial market for automotive batteries is the replacement battery market. In North America there are more than 250 million vehicles in operation. This number has grown steadily from 239 million vehicles in the year 2000.

Seibert then went on to discuss automotive battery shipments. In 2006 North American OEM battery shipments (all vehicles and not just LVs) hit 20.9 million units and replacement battery shipments reached 96.0 million units. Non-automotive battery shipments (heavy duty, general utility, golf car, floor scrubber, etc.) reached 5.9 million units for OEM applications and 33.1 million units for the replacement applications.

In completing his presentation Seibert made a few comments on hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) sales. He said that according to R.L. Polk, HEV sales rose by 28% in 2006 when U.S. consumers bought 254,545 HEVs, up from 199,148 a year earlier. By 2010 global HEV sales are expected to reach 1.5 million units which is approximately 2% of all global vehicle sales.



Industrial Battery Three-Year Forecast

Robert Cullen of Hollingsworth & Vose Co. began by stating that the industrial battery market (stationary and motive power) had a very good year in 2006 with sales up 10.9% to $1.3 billion. He said that this was a result of the very strong U.S. economy and went on to present a detailed description of why the various portions of the market are doing what they are doing.

In 2006 the motive power battery sales were $694 million (53%) and up 18% from 2005. These applications include industrial truck batteries, including forklifts, automatic guided vehicles and airline ground equipment. This market also includes railroad/locomotive batteries and mining vehicle batteries. Cullen believes that sales were up so dramatically because of a large demand for new forklift trucks in the manufacturing and warehouse industries.

Stationary power battery sales were $611 million (47%) in 2006. This market can be further subdivided into telecommunications (51%), UPS (33%), miscellaneous standby (7%), and control, and switchgear (9%). Telecom has had several bad years in the recent past due to cut backs but in 2006 sales were up significantly.

According to the speaker, the growth trend in the industrial battery market looks very good. At $1.3 billion in sales, the industrial battery market is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2009. The industry will be led by growth in battery sales in telecomm, UPS and the forklift markets.

Spiral Wound Lead-Acid Batteries in Micro and Mild Hybrids: Results of ALABC DP1.2 Project

Rick Johnson of Exide Technologies explained that the object of the ALABC DP1.2 project was to demonstrate the performance of advanced lead-acid batteries manufactured at a pre-series scale with design and components optimized for hybrid vehicle applications. The battery assembly and testing was conducted by Exide Technologies using its “Orbital” VRLA battery that was optimized for HEV operation and incorporating design improvements such as higher carbon levels in the negative. Tests were also completed to demonstrate the advantage of using expanded graphite as the NAM additive.

The vehicles tested were conventional vehicles with “stop-start” function, such as the Citroen C3 and the Renault Clio; micro hybrids with “stop-start” and regenerative braking (14V) such as the Ford Fiesta; mild hybrid vehicles with “stop-start”, regenerative braking and boosting functions (<42V) such as the VW Golf and the Ford Transit; and a fuel cell hybrid wheelchair (24V).

Detailed test results were shown and in one test a battery capacity turnover of more than 5,500 was demonstrated. In concluding, Johnson noted that this project was a joint effort between ALABC, Exide Technologies, Ford Europe, PSA, Valeo (starter and alternator systems), Siemens VDO (hybrid electrical systems) and Besel (small fuel cell systems).

Design and Production of VRLA Batteries for HEVs

Kevin Smith of East Penn Manufacturing summarized the work that was recently done at East Penn in conjunction with ALABC. The presentation covered grid design, negative paste additives, battery assembly and bench testing of their prismatic VRLA battery design. All batteries were built and assembled using normal factory equipment and processes, therefore permitting process capability to be evaluated. The design matrix involved two different grid designs and two levels of the carbon additive. All batteries were evaluated using a simulated driving cycle that was designed for a hybrid electric bus.

The results quickly pointed out the importance of the carbon additive. Batteries with the carbon additive reached as many as 375,000 cycles while in the absence of the additive, batteries failed to reach 125,000 cycles. Statistical analysis revealed that grid optimization had a 130% improvement and carbon/graphite additive had a 320% improvement for a total combined improvement of 430%.

The Operation of Purpose-Designed Lead-Acid Batteries in Power-Assist Hybrids

Dr. Patrick Moseley of the Advanced Lead-Acid Battery Consortium addressed the recent developments and design changes that will enable the valve regulated lead-acid battery to satisfy the performance requirements of power-assist HEVs. Moseley noted that in the past VRLA batteries have not been able to withstand high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) operation such as is typical of the hybrid. His research has shown that the failure mode appears to involve the progressive accumulation of lead sulfate on the negative plate. This same research established that acceptable HRPSoC battery life may be obtained by combining elevated levels of carbon into the negative active material with improved negative grid designs.

The paper described the improved grid designs and went on to discuss the various types of HEVs that are on the market. A 36V spiral-wound VRLA battery with high carbon levels was successfully tested in a Ford Focus mild hybrid. The data revealed that the VRLA battery pack delivered the required power and met the FreedomCAR specifications for specific power and cycle life.

Lithium-ion: An Emerging Technology

Dr. Ralph Brodd of Broddarp of Nevada Inc. began by discussing the short and amazing history of Li-ion battery technology. He listed his criteria for a commercial product which includes performance, reliability, appearance and cost. He also discussed key issues for success which in his opinion are standardization, mass production and development of new applications. He mentioned how the early portable device market (camcorders, cellular phones and laptop computers) was controlled by lead-acid and Ni-Cd batteries and now, due to great improvements in weight and volumetric energy densities, is solely dominated by Li-ion battery technology.

The next market for Li-ion battery exploitation is the hybrid electric vehicle industry which is now >90% Ni-MH technology. As Li-ion battery technology continues to develop, future issues are related to high-rate capability, lower cost and product safety. The safety issues tend to make the news but in reality safety issues are only ~1 in 10 million of the 3 billion cells produced annually. Further safety improvements are on the horizon with new cathode technology and electrolyte additives being researched. The next issues that must be addressed are battery recycling and environment impact. Brodd stated that Europe is leading the way for battery recycling, with the lead-acid battery industry being the benchmark at >98% recycling.