Chevrolet News:Chevrolet Spark EV To Use Different Battery Tech

[William Maley]

With the current NHTSA investigation into the Chevrolet Volt's battery pack, GM decided to use a different battery chemistry for its upcoming Chevrolet Spark electric vehicle.

GM announced today the Spark EV will use lithium phosphate batteries for its Spark EV rather than the lithium metal oxide batteries used in the Volt. The lithium phosphate batteries store less energy and require more space than lithium metal batteries. However, lithium phosphate batteries are more stable than lithium metal batteries.

“Lithium phosphate chemistry looks like it could be more friendly in terms of heat management.But it stores less energy. There is a tremendous amount of new discovery. This is new territory for lithium batteries,” said James Hall, principal of consulting company 2953 Analytics Inc.

A123 Systems will provide the lithium phosphate batteries for the Spark EV, which will arrive to showrooms in 2013.

Source: Bloomberg

View full article

[z28luvr01]

I'm sure the decision to use lithiium phosphate batteries was made prior to the Volt fire incident. More poor journalism.

The Spark EV doesn't need benefits of lithium metal batteries. It's a smaller car that's not also lugging around a heavy gas engine. Plus, it'll keep the price down, which is the only reason to buy a Spark EV over a Volt in the first place.

[FAPTurbo]

What the hell Bloomberg? Causation does not equal correlation.

GM and other companies are engineering future models with lithium phosphate technology partly because the batteries can be safer and last longer, said James Hall, principal of consulting company 2953 Analytics Inc. in Birmingham, Michigan. Battery makers weren’t ready to mass-produce them until recently.

So wait... This has nothing to do with the Volt's troubles. Instead, it's because the technology couldn't be mass-produced in time for the Volt. So why is Bloomberg saying it's to do with the Volt's recent "troubles?" What terrible journalism.

[Drew Dowdell]

There was no way this decision was made within the last 4 weeks.

[67impss]

This isn't new tech it's been around at least 5 yrs that the ebike community has been using them. My BF with the teardrop camper has had them for 2 yrs on his ebike.

[CanadianBacon94]

new to cars then 67, or new to this size of battery