What types of rechargeable batteries are currently used for the electric drive industry?
At the present time, the Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) technology is the dominant battery application for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). The market is now shifting to lithium-ion due to its advantages in size, weight, performance, and cost. The same transition occurred in consumer electronics in the 1990s such that today the lithium-ion technology has close to a 100% market penetration in notebook computers, cell phones and other portable devices. With the proliferation of the electric drive, we anticipate that lithium-ion will ultimately replace NiMH as the standard battery application.
