AGM lead acid batteries better than lithium for green investors?
Short term versus the long term
February 3, 2012
Electification. It's the key long term buzzword when it comes to the auto industry, and that means batteries.
Whether its micro-hybrids, mild hybrids, full hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electrics, or even fuel cell hybrids, batteries are a critical technology heading forward.
In the battery space, everything is about lithium, but which kind of lithium technologies are best? What kinds of lithium-ion chemistries are best? What about lithium polymer, lithium air?
What about the cathodes? Are they the critical element to lithium battery success?
And that's the problem with lithium. Too many questions, not enough answers. The space is simply wide open and there will probably be many more losers than winners for a long time.
But that doesn't mean green investors can't still play the automotive battery space.
In the interim, however, maybe its best NOT to focus on lithium.
Recently, for instance, a Cox Research report found that the biggest name in the battery game is AGM lead acid batteries. These batteries are going to fuel a massive increase in micro-hybrid vehicles through 2017 - up to 39 million vehicles.
Today this micro-hybrid battery market is dominated by one player, Johnson Controls. Their VARTA Start-Stop Plus AGM and VARTA Start-Stop EFB AGM batteries control around 4/5s the entire micro-hybrid market. If they continue this domination, that's a lot of upside in the next few years.
But could another AGM battery maker challenge Johnson Controls?
PowerGenix believes that its nickel-zinc (NiZn) chemistry-based batteries could be even better than AGM batteries for micro-hybrids, and the company has been involved with some Chinese companies to produce batteries for Chinese micro-hybrids.
Likewise, established US battery manufacturer, A123 Systems is also moving into the micro-hybrid space.
If you're thinking about the battery space as your next green investing move, then you have to research the micro-hybrid space.
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