Bipolar nickel-metal hydride battery for hybrid electric vehicles

Advanced batteries are being considered by the global auto manufacturers, including the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), which includes Ford, Chrysler, and GM in the US, for the critical component of the hybrid electric vehicle which is needed to provide the pulse power for acceleration and also efficiently recapture braking energy. The objective of the US program is to develop a full-size family vehicle with three times the present fuel efficiency of such vehicles, i.e. 80 miles per gallon of gasoline for a typical driving cycle. The vehicle should also have comparable performance and the cost of present vehicles of this type. The Electro Energy, Inc. (EEI) candidate for this potential market is a 300 V-10 Ah battery based on nickel-metal hydride chemistry with a novel, patented bipolar “wafer cell” construction. This paper describes progress at approximately the half way point of an SBIR phase II program of the US Department of Energy on the battery R and D program at EEI