Michelin and Chinese battery maker to develop electric powertrain system

Two non-automakers intend to jointly develop electric powertrain systems: French tire maker Michelin Inc. and Chinese battery manufacturer and battery material supplier Citic Guoan Mengguli Corp.
 
With little fanfare, the two sides signed an agreement earlier this year to jointly develop electric powertrain systems for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles, Qi Lu, general manager of Mengguli (MGL) told Automotive News China.
 
The electric powertrain system will integrate Michelin's active wheel technology with MGL's lithium-ion batteries. The controllers used in the system will be jointly developed, says Qi.
 
The active wheel is Michelin's proprietary design for batteries and fuel-cell powered electric vehicles. It houses electric motors and suspensions inside the wheels. The battery pack and the motors are linked by electric cables.
 
Qi says: "The electric powertrain system with Michelin's active wheels can be supplied to automakers in China by the year end."
 
But he predicts demand for the electric powertrain system will mainly come from overseas in the future.
 
Qi also is a professor of Beijing-based Peking University and head of the university's new energy material and technology laboratory.
 
Beijing-based MGL is controlled by CITIC Guoan Group Corp., a subsidiary of State-owned conglomerate China CITIC Group Crop.
 
MGL is the exclusive battery supplier for the 50 electric buses used in the Olympic villages during the Olympics Games held in Beijing in August.
 
Michelin and MGL have developed a pure electric car fitted with the system. The car is based on the Lifan 520, a small car produced by Chongqing Lifan Automobile Co.
 
The Lifan 520 electric car has a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour. A full recharge will take 4 hours. The car can travel 100 to 350 kilometers with a full recharge, depending on capacity of the battery pack. The batteries can be recharged about 1,000 times, says Qi.
 
Qi says the batteries used in the car have passed relevant safety and quality tests carried out by China's Ministry of Science and Technology.
 
But the Lifan electric car with the electric powertrain system has yet to be tested.
 
MGL's Beijing-based plant has a battery production capacity of 20 million ampere hours and 2500 tons of lithium-ion battery cathode materials per year, says the company Web site.
 
Supported by government loans, a new plant is under construction and will reach full scale production in 2009, says Qi.
 
The new plant will have a battery production capacity of 100 billion ampere hours, which means the plant can supply batteries to 18,000 electric cars per year, he adds.

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