Johnson Controls innovations: Power storage for hybrid cars - MT car magazine for motorists and drivers with latest auto reviews, light trucks and automotive news

Johnson controls closes the gap between car classes

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Motion Trends, PR, 11th October 2005.

Climate controlled seating

Program. projection cluster

Enhanced protection

Power storage for hybrids

Tire pressure monitoring

Door panel module

The global market for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) is expected to grow significantly during the next decade, as consumers strive to drive more fuel-efficient and better performing vehicles. Johnson Controls, the world’s largest manufacturer of lead-acid automotive batteries, is offering novel solutions to fulfill current and future demand for innovative hybrid vehicle batteries.

Last month, Johnson Controls presented at the 2005 Frankfurt motor show a prismatic, NiMH nickel-metal-hydride battery which is produced by its subsidiary VARTA Automotive Systems.

Johnson Control's new NiMH battery for full hybrid systems.

This new solution sets standards in terms of performance as well as packaging efficiency, and it can be adapted to suit automakers’ modern platform concepts.

The battery is based on 7.2-volt, 7.0 Ah (ampere-hour) nickel-metal-hydride modules. This system approach includes both the storage system itself as well as an intelligent battery management system (BMS).

For more than a decade, VARTA Automotive Systems has been developing and manufacturing nickel-metal-hydride batteries for automotive applications, and for electric and hybrid-electric buses.

At the same event, Johnson Controls displayed also innovative lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles. The company recently was awarded government funding in the United States to develop an abuse-tolerant, lithium-ion battery offering extended life and enhanced power-to-weight performance. The system is characterized by a long life and a power-to-weight performance twice as high as that of conventional nickel-metal-hydride batteries.

“Hybrid-electric vehicles represent a rapidly growing segment of today’s modern automotive market,” said Alan Mumby, Vice President and General Manager of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Group at Johnson Controls. “With our research and development strengths, long-term experience, and established production infrastructure, we are in a great position to charge forward as a vital supplier of power-storage and power-management technologies for the emerging HEV market.”

Johnson Controls is able to provide solutions for virtually every type of battery chemistry, from traditional lead-acid concepts, to both nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion approaches, thus supporting automakers worldwide in their production of all vehicle types.