How it started
History
In November 2005, the company announced a new, faster-recharging lithium-ion battery system based on doped nanophosphate materials licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In December 2006, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the company a US$15 million development contract to optimize A123 Systems' proprietary doped nano-phosphate battery technology for hybrid electric vehicle applications with a focus on power, abuse tolerance, durability and cost. USABC is an organization composed of Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation.
BAE Systems announced that, from 2008, it would offer A123 Systems' lithium-ion battery technology as part of its HybriDrive Propulsion System used in the 2008 version of the Daimler Orion VII hybrid electric buses. As of September 7, 2009, more than 3,000 of the buses were in service.
In May 2008, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the company a US$12.5 million grant to develop its lithium-ion battery technology for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
On March 5, 2008, General Electric, A123, and Think Global announced that the three firms had entered a partnership to enable global electrification of transportation. GE invested US$20 million in the company to help it roll out batteries for Think. The company and Think at the same time signed a commercial supply agreement. The partnership was announced at the 78th annual international Motor Show in Geneva. After over $10 million in investment in the Think Global Think City, A123 ceased production of its L20 battery pack for Think after a single day of production in December 2008.
From Wikipedia’s article on A123 Systems, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3