The United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), a subsidiary of the US Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), has signed $5.43m in advanced battery development and technology assessment contracts with five firms.

The contracts funded by the US Department of Energy include a 50% cost-share from each of the contracted companies to develop and assess energy storage technologies for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV), a lower-energy energy storage system for power-assist HEV (PAHEV) and EV applications.

Envia Systems has secured a $3.65m contract for a three-year project to develop high-energy cathode material for vehicle applications and pouch cells with performance metrics that meet or exceed the minimum USABC EV goals.

Quallion of Los Angeles has received a $1.41m contract for 18-month demonstration project to evaluate the performance of its Matrix battery design, a hybridized battery pack using lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells, against USABC EV goals.

ActaCell of Texas has won $179,015 for a 16-month technology assessment contract to test its Li-ion cells for increased cycle and storage life and Leyden Energy has got an $117,733 contract for eight-month assessment of its Li-ion technology for EV applications in pouch cell.

K2 Energy Solutions has won $73,644 contract for 12-month technology assessment of its 51Ah cells and planned 45Ah cells configured in ‘flat-pack’ modular batteries and large laminated cells in relation to USABC EV battery targets.