Why do we need a Nickel Metal Hydride Battery (NiMH) in a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)?
By Lou Ann Hammond Hybrid sales are phenomenal. Every vehicle that is a hybrid is selling out virtually before it hits the store lot. Lexus PR folks have said that there will be 24,000 Lexus RX 400hs produced this year and that 11,000 are already pre-sold. It doesn’t make sense that with hybrids so hot that the Manufacturers would dole out hybrids so sparingly, not really letting the public see the full demand of the hybrid. Is there a demand for hybrids or is the hype for the 100,000 or so hybrids brought about because there are so few hybrids. We know the demand for vehicles was over 16,000,000 last year because there were over 16,000,0000 produced and over 16,000,0000 sold. In fact, production outweighed sales. Production of hybrids have never outweighed sales of hybrids. Why aren’t more hybrids being produced? There are four major suppliers of automotive Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries; Japan’s Panasonic and Sanyo, China’s GP Industries (Goldpeak), U.S. based Johnson Controls
