Volt Generation 2 battery 10 times better, in three years?

[Glen M]

Do you remember Stanford scientist Yi Cui silicon nanowire anodes?

Well it looks like LG thinks that they might have a commercial product within 3 years..

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23516/page1/

Researchers at Stanford University and Hanyang University in Ansan, Korea, are developing the nanotube electrodes in collaboration with LG Chem, a Korean company that makes lithium-ion batteries, including those used in the Chevy Volt. When such a battery is charged, lithium ions move from the cathode to the anode. The new battery electrodes, described online in the journal Nano Letters, are anodes and can store much more energy than conventional graphite electrodes because they absorb much more lithium when the battery is charged.

The silicon nanotubes are made by repeatedly immersing an aluminum template in a silicon solution, and then heating it and etching the structure in acid to remove the aluminum. "It's very simple, and the template is commercially available," says Cho. Along with LG Chem, Cho is working with the template manufacturer to make a template compatible with large-scale manufacturing. He believes batteries incorporating the nanotube electrodes could be on the market in three years.

[HyperMiler]

Buy LG Chem shares now.
Sell A123 shares.

[Geronimo]

Buy LG Chem shares now.
Sell A123 shares.

LG Chem is just a subsidiary of the LG Group, South Korea's third largest conglomerate, with revenues of $104.3 billion in 2008, and 177,000 employees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Group
Even if this battery is a home run, the effect on LG Group stock will be minuscule, and will probably be swamped by other factors.

A123 Systems is a pure-play lithium battery supplier, on the cusp of the Electric Car Age. The company has only 1,800 employees and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts. They also use nano-scale engineering for their electrodes - perhaps LG Chem has a better manufacturing process, but the li-ion battery game is just getting started.
A123 Systems is a privately held company, so you can't buy or sell their stock anyway.

On August 2008, the Company filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On January 2009, announced that it has submitted an application under the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVMLP) to qualify for US $1.84 billion in direct loans to support the construction of new lithium ion battery manufacturing facilities in the United States, with the first construction location in southeast Michigan.
In April 2009, Chrysler LLC announced a contract with A123 to supply batteries to their Envi (automobile) batteries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A123Systems

[rhodomel]

A123 IPO on thursday!!!
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/...58M5PN20090923

[Texas]

A123 IPO on thursday!!!
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/...58M5PN20090923

Breaking news!

EEstor to announce a successful component validation AND show a working prototype just hours before the A123 IPO!

Just after the A123 IPO is killed, EEstor will claim it was all just a hoax. Unfortunately for A123, it will be over.

-This story has been completely made up-

[DaV8or]

I guess there's just no way that ol' Dr. Cho, a supposed American, working in and funded by an American institution, could possibly supply his technology to an American company? Nope. For sale to the highest bidder. This country is doomed I fear.

[HyperMiler]

I guess there's just no way that ol' Dr. Cho, a supposed American, working in and funded by an American institution,

says Jaephil Cho, professor of energy engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea

Looks like the great battery race is shaping out to be exactly like DRAM, NAND Flash, and flatscreen war before it; Koreans vanquished competition by outspending the competition in the chicken game.

[Altazi]

Looks like the great battery race is shaping out to be exactly like DRAM, NAND Flash, and flatscreen war before it; Koreans vanquished competition by outspending the competition in the chicken game.

Rather amazing what a concerted effort can achieve.

[hermperez]

You will not get a 10x jump in one shot, this will be incremental.

I doubt it will be in 3 years.. btw, this is only half the battery that can perform 10 times better (the cathode?), you still have to improve the other half or you will not notice any improvements.

[Geronimo]

A123 IPO on thursday!!!
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/...58M5PN20090923

Thanks, I didn't realize it was so soon.