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2005新聞集錦
2005/01/26

B.C.-built battery keeps going even longer

It has more power and twice the run time of current models

By Brian Morton
Vancouver Sun
A Maple Ridge company has taken technology from a research program at the University of B.C. and developed a highpower lithium-ion battery that it says will revolutionize cordless power tools. Ken Broom, executive vice- president of E-One Moli Energy (Canada), a subsidiary of privatelyowned E-One Moli Energy Corp. of Taiwan, said that the new battery provides increased power over traditional systems, has twice the run time, and is environmentally friendly, while still weighing less than current models.


E-One has a deal with U.S. power-tool maker Milwaukee Electric Tool orporation, which will use the battery to power its line of professional cordless power tools. The new products, whichwill be introduced in the U.S. in April and later in Canada, include a band saw, hammer drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw, impact wrench, work light and battery charger. More heavy-duty products are expected to be launched in 2006.
CREDIT: Chuck Russell, Vancouver Sun Blair Tweten, manager of sales and marketing for EOne Moli Energy, holds a circular saw powered by ..
Broom said that his company now produces a total of 1.8 million cells per month for such things as cellphones, lap-top computers and other portable data terminals, and normally does about $100 million in business per year. But Broom forecast that by supplying the power-tool industry E-One could potentially double its total business in three years. Broom said that the deal with Milwaukee means E-One will produce an extra 150,000 battery cells a month at the Maple Ridge plant, which employs 430 people.
 
"We're looking at plans to quadruple production by the end of the year. We'll also be looking at other applications for the cell." He said E-One now produces a total of 1.8 million cells per month for such things as cell phones, lap top computers and other portable data terminals, and normally does about $100 million in business per year.
 
"This [the new battery] is not huge yet," he added, "but the growth potential is huge. It has the potential to double our business in three years." Moli Energy was incorporated in 1977 to develop a commercially viable battery using technology from the lithium research program at the University of B.C.
 
Broom said lithium-ion batteries haven't been modified before for a complete line of power tools, "We're the leading edge.""Our product contains no heavy metal, such as cadmium," Alyson Cuthbertson, E-One's manager of general affairs, said. "So, technically, it can be disposed in your household waste, although we strongly recommend that the product be recycled through proper channels.
 
" According to the news release, the new battery technology allows the company opportunities to enter markets previously served only by lead acid, nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride batteries, such as power tools, electric bicycles and potentially electric or hybrid-electric vehicles. Broom said the battery technology is similar to that used in laptop computers and cell phones -- products that don't need cords and which EOne already provides batteries for.
 
"This puts us into a brand new niche. It helps us diversify." He said the lithium-ion battery industry is now worth about $400 million US per month worldwide and that about 120 million cells are produced each month worldwide.