Plug 'Em In: GM to Mass-Produce Hybrid Car Batteries

— -- General Motors will begin mass production in 2010 of hybrid vehicles that use lithium-ion batteries and, in many cases, small-displacement turbocharged gasoline engines. The combination will allow the automaker to use the hybrid system on any size vehicle it produces.

It made the announcement Tuesday at the Geneva Motor Show.

It would be the first high-volume use of lithium-ion batteries, which automakers and suppliers are struggling to perfect as they try to ramp up production on electric-powered vehicles. The batteries don't work well in cold weather, must be continuously cooled to prevent fires and cost more than other batteries. GM's lithium-ion battery will be about the size of a case of soda, about a quarter the size of the current nickel-metal hydride batteries used in most hybrids.

"We need a battery that is very compact and is very light," says Stephen Poulos, global chief engineer of GM's hybrid systems. "Lithium ion is a great enabler for that."

Lithium-ion batteries are already widely used in laptops, cellphones and other small personal technological items. As cellphone users may know, they can get very hot.

GM isn't the first to use lithium-ion batteries — Honda is using them in its FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, but fewer than 100 of those will be made and will be leased to customers in California this year. Daimler announced last week that it, too, will use lithium-ion batteries, rolling out a hybrid version of its Mercedes S-class sedans next year.

And Toyota said in December that it was preparing to start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries for its low-emissions cars.

The battery brings GM one step closer to developing the battery needed for its electric-powered Chevrolet Volt concept car, which it hopes will be ready for production in 2010.

GM and Honda say they are confident using the lithium-ion batteries because their applications don't impose a severe duty cycle. That is, they don't alternate between draining and recharging the batteries, instead holding their state of charge within relatively narrow limits.