New Type of Battery for Hybrid Cars - 12/18/06

DETROIT - Executives with Firefly Energy Inc., a battery developer in Peoria, Ill., came to Detroit on Friday pitching what they said was a safer, smaller and less expensive battery than those used in hybrid electric vehicles today

Firefly co-founders Mil Ovan and Ed Williams are visiting automakers around the world, persuading them to use their patented lead acid batteries equipped with carbon in lieu of metal - instead of nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries.

Until now, carbon was avoided in lead acid batteries because it created gases that shortened the life of the battery. But four years ago, Kurt Kelley, then a Caterpillar research scientist, tinkered with a lead acid battery and a scrap piece of carbon foam leftover from another Caterpillar department. While doing so he discovered it had worked.

Firefly claims the battery is 70 percent lighter, recharges 7 times faster and lasts 2 times longer than conventional lead acid batteries and that it is safer and costs less than today's hybrid electric batteries.

Back to the Hybrid Vehicles Index