The smart money across the industry is betting on lithium-ion technology.
Not Honda's.
The technology is too unreliable, according to CEO Takeo Fukui. Nor does it have the durability of nickel-metal hydride power-packs. Honda released the Civic Hybrid on the Korean market last year and will unveil a smaller hybrid car sometime next year.
For the U.S., the company is in the final stages of developing an all-new hybrid based on the 1.8-liter Civic engine which will be mated to an entirely new electric motor and control unit. While it will be able to accommodate lithium ion batteries at some future stage, the model set to be released will use current nickel-metal hydride technology.
Meanwhile, GM won't begin road testing its lithium-ion batteries until July, somewhat later than the company had anticipated. The Volt currently sources two types of lithium ion batteries from Compact Power, Inc., which is developing cells with its parent LG Chem, and with Continental Automotive Systems and its subsidiary A123 Systems. Both battery technologies promise to be more stable than the notebook computer variety, which have the inconvenient habit of overheating, bursting into flames and even exploding. The Volt's product managers have reported to me that the life cycle on the batteries will be good for 100,000 charges--or roughly 10 years by their estimates. The batteries will have to be replaced after this, and it's an open question about whether the costs of replacing them could well exceed the resale value of a 10-year-old car.
In fact, Honda's comments to the media notwithstanding, it's entirely possible that the company is opting for nickel-metal hydride technology because it's cheaper. Honda hopes to price the new hybrid under the current Civic hybrid, which has seen lackluster sales.
Sources: AutoWeek, Automotive News, Reuters, Honda
