Ener1, Delphi combine Li battery operations; form new firm

Ener1 Inc. and Delphi Corp. have combined their lithium battery operations into a new company called EnerDel that will pursue automotive applications, among others.

Ener1, which contributed $15 million in working capital to the new venture, owns 80.5% of EnerDel's common stock. Delphi owns the remaining 19.5%.

Ener1 chairman and CEO Kevin Fitzgerald said his firm’s nanotechnology-based vapor deposition process is expected to offer substantial cost advantages for EnerDel's new battery products due to greater choice of potential electrode materials, faster production times and elimination of binders and coating materials in the production of lithium batteries.

”Our battery cell production skills are complemented by Delphi's design and production team, cell packaging, systems design and large-scale production expertise,” he says.