Ford announces battery supplier for plug-in hybrid

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said Johnson Controls-Saft will supply the battery system for the automaker's first production plug-in hybrid electric vehicle beginning in 2012. Ford is also expanding its test program to include several utilities around the nation to speed up the commercialization of plug-in hybrid vehicles. ...Ford's strategy to bring a battery-electric vehicle van to market in 2010 for commercial use, a small battery-electric sedan developed with Magna International by 2011 and a plug-in electric vehicle by 2012.The lithium-ion battery system being designed by Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls will include cells along with mechanical, electrical, electronic and thermal components.
Terms of the five-year supply agreement were not disclosed, but the companies have set a production target of 5,000 units a year. The cells will initially be produced at the supplier's facility in France but eventually be assembled in the United States.
In the tests, Ford said the utilities were joining its partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute to conduct tests on a fleet of Ford Escape plug-in hybrid vehicles. The utilities include.....
The partnership will allow the utilities to study regional differences and the vehicles' impact on the electric grid.
Ford announces battery supplier for plug-in hybrid - Yahoo! Finance