BMW and Toyota charge up electric car battery partnership
Auto giants BMW and Toyota have finalised their partnership to research next-generation batteries for electric cars.
The two companies today inked an agreement confirming the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at the beginning of December, which will also see BMW supply Toyota’s European arm with efficient 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre diesel engines from 2014.
BMW said work had already started on a project to increase the performance and capacity of lithium-ion battery cells by using new combinations of materials for cathodes, anodes and electrolytes.
In related news, battery manufacturer A123 announced it will replace defective batteries that have seen Fisker Automotive’s $107,000 Karma model shutting down in tests this month by Consumer Reports.
The company is expected to spend about $55m replacing the batteries and systems shipped globally, which will be funded during the next several quarters.
“We have isolated the root cause of the defective cells and we are confident that we have pinpointed the source of the defect and corrected it,” said David Vieau, chief executive of A123 Systems. “As a result of engineering analysis and testing, we believe this is not a safety issue, and we have determined the root cause and have taken corrective actions.”
The battery issue was by no means the first technical problem to hit the Karma. In December, Fisker recalled 239 Karmas to fix a hose clamp in the A123 battery pack at risk of leaking coolant, which it said could potentially cause a fire.
To date, around 630 of the sports cars have been delivered to customers including Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Beiber.
The two companies today inked an agreement confirming the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at the beginning of December, which will also see BMW supply Toyota’s European arm with efficient 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre diesel engines from 2014.
BMW said work had already started on a project to increase the performance and capacity of lithium-ion battery cells by using new combinations of materials for cathodes, anodes and electrolytes.
In related news, battery manufacturer A123 announced it will replace defective batteries that have seen Fisker Automotive’s $107,000 Karma model shutting down in tests this month by Consumer Reports.
The company is expected to spend about $55m replacing the batteries and systems shipped globally, which will be funded during the next several quarters.
“We have isolated the root cause of the defective cells and we are confident that we have pinpointed the source of the defect and corrected it,” said David Vieau, chief executive of A123 Systems. “As a result of engineering analysis and testing, we believe this is not a safety issue, and we have determined the root cause and have taken corrective actions.”
The battery issue was by no means the first technical problem to hit the Karma. In December, Fisker recalled 239 Karmas to fix a hose clamp in the A123 battery pack at risk of leaking coolant, which it said could potentially cause a fire.
To date, around 630 of the sports cars have been delivered to customers including Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Beiber.
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