BATTERY

The G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, concluded on Friday.The U.S. Energy Department announced on Friday it will deploy funds of more than $589 million for energy efficiency and weatherization programs. Continental Automotive awarded for production of lithium-ion batteries.

Japan's Sanyo Electric Co Ltd said it plans to boost its capacity to make auto-use nickel-metal hydride batteries by 75 percent to 3.5 million cells a month by March 2010 to meet growing demand.

Battery maker EnerDel, Inc. will invest $3.3 million in a research project to develop a technology to eliminate overcharging in lithium-ion cells.

Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp has made major progress in talks with anti-trust regulators on its planned takeover of Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, and is considering launching a tender offer for the smaller rival as early as next month, Kyodo news agency said.

A123Systems, Inc, EnerDel, Inc, Angstrom Materials, LLC, Max Power, Inc and three other organizations were granted funds from the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday for research projects to develop advanced batteries for electric vehicles.

IBM may be approaching a breakthrough in battery technologies the auto industry is looking forward to.

Sony Corporation on Thursday said it introduced its mercury-free alkaline button battery, which is commonly used in cameras, remote controls and calculators, the alkaline manganese.

General Motors officially opened an advanced battery laboratory in Michigan on Monday to speed up the development of cleaner and more energy efficient vehicles, the company said.

Electric vehicle services provider Better Place said Friday its automated battery swap stations have marked 1,000 replacements of batteries from electric vehicles in Japan, the firm's vice president Jason Wolf said at the Smart Grid Innovation Symposium, according to Greentechmedia.

Batteries maker Valence Technology Inc. is applying for $225 million from federal funds to build a plant in Leander, Texas for the manufacturing of battery packs for electric vehicles, the firm announced last week.

Battery maker Boston Power is working to build a facility in Auburn, Massachusetts to build lithium-ion batteries for Plug-in Hybrid and electric battery vehicles, Notebook PCs and national security applications, the company said Monday.

New vehicle emission standards will likely be a boon for everything from aluminum to new plastics, but the producers of lithium -- a mineral used in batteries that power new generation vehicles -- could be the big winners.

Hewlett-Packard Co. is voluntarily recalling lithium-ion batteries used in HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP, and HP Compaq because of fire hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday.

A new battery switch technology for electric vehicles was demonstrated for the first time in Yokohoma, Japan Tuesday by the company Better Place. The technology consists in a station.

General Electric Co plans to invest $100 million in a factory to build high-tech batteries for heavy equipment, which it believes could be a $1 billion business over the next decade.

General Electric announced Tuesday it will open a new factory to manufacture high tech batteries in upstate New York, creating 350 new jobs.

Global demand for materials needed to manufacture batteries will climb 3.9 percent per year to $22.8 billion by 2012, a study by the Freedonia Group released this week stated.

Battery maker EnerDel and automaker Fisher Karma are looking to strike a deal that will provide batteries for a new plug-in hybrid car set to launch in June 2010.

The first commercial scale plant for lithium-ion auto batteries in the U.S. will be commissioned in a ceremony on Friday in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said on Tuesday the U.S. market has shown signs of having bottomed out since the start of April.

American battery maker A123 Systems secured more than $100 million in refundable tax credits from the state of Michigan to establish plants in the state needed to manufacture of its lithium-ion batteries as demand for them grows, the company announced Tuesday.