Lithium Game Changer: Denso creates Lithium-ion battery designed for Stop-Start Vehicles.

    

  We have another very important news for the Lithium sector. Stop-Start market is really huge compare to Plug-In Hybrids and pure Electric Cars - BEV and will be driving the fuel efficiency standards and urban area city cycle demands particularly. It will be the real game changer if Lithium batteries can make its way into this fast growing segment of fuel efficient ICE cars. Europe is ahead in this game already, but North America and Asia are following the case.

  Toyota has a piece in this game on the Lithium side again.

AutoBlogGreen: 

Denso creates Lithium-ion battery designed for Stop-Start Vehicles.

 By Danny King

 Toyota owns part of the company, but Suzuki gets the battery.

That's the gist of Denso's development of a lithium-ion battery pack that is designed especially for cars with fuel-saving stop-start systems. The 5.5-pound battery pack weighs less because it can capture regenerative energy from when the vehicle slows down and feed that power the alternator when the car is idling and the engine is shut off. Such batteries mark an improvement over the older lead-acid batteries that are customarily used with stop-start systems.

While Denso is minority-owned by Toyota, the new battery pack will first be used in the recently-launchedSuzuki Wagon R. Denso hasn't said which other vehicles will be supplied with the battery pack further down the road. Until then, you can see Denso's press release."

Lithium Brines Play In Argentina Is Back - Toyota Tsusho Buys Into Olaroz Deposit With Orocobre ORL.to, ILC.v, RM.v

 "Talking about The Art Of War - Chinese sometimes taking it quite literally and seriously - China has recently signed the agreement about military cooperation with Argentina, Chinese companies have received a green light to invest in resources in Argentina and plans are announced for the building Lithium Battery plants and Electric Busses in Argentina by BYD. By the way Warren Buffet is backing BYD with its Electric Dreams.

Lithium Rush: The Art Of War In The Markets: China Getting Ready For 5 Million Electric Cars by 2020

As we have written above, quite a few Chinese companies are involved in Argentina already and have secured their stakes in the upcoming Lithium developers. Rodinia Lithium has being waking up lately with some bids coming in and International Lithium should announce its plans about the development of Mariana Lithium Brine in Argentina, once the recently announced deals with Chinese Ganfeng Lithium will be finalised.

 This bold move by Toyota will put all serious lithium brine developers in Argentina on the investors' radar screens again. Country risk, which was driving all the prices down with the general Risk Off trade in the junior miners this summer will be reassessed. Investment space here is really tiny, number of credible names with the real assets and with serious backing is even less - any catalyst on the company level can ignite the next leg up in this Generational Bull Market."

Pike Research:

Stop-Start Vehicles

Micro Hybrid Technologies, Batteries, and Ultracapacitors:
Global Market Analysis and Forecasts

During the past decade, driven largely by an effort to meet legislated carbon emissions reduction goals for vehicle fleets, automakers have introduced technologies that enable internal combustion engines (ICEs) to turn off automatically when vehicles are stopped. These stop-start vehicles are also known as micro hybrids, idle stop vehicles, and a variety of names branded by automakers, and in many cases the technology is bundled with other fuel efficient technologies. These vehicles can offer significant reductions in fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions, although the actual savings depend heavily on the drive cycle.

Stop-start vehicles require more robust batteries and starter systems than are found in internal combustion engine vehicles and are priced at a small premium over ICEs but considerably less than hybrid vehicles. With the most aggressive environmental goals in the world, Europe has seen by far the greatest selection of vehicles with stop-start technology and, not surprisingly, the greatest volume of vehicles sold. North America has experienced a relatively slow penetration of the technology due to less stringent emissions reduction goals and an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing cycle that underestimates the benefits of the technology. Worldwide, Pike Research expects more than 41 million of these vehicles to be sold annually by 2020 – nearly a tenfold increase over 2012 sales.

This Pike Research report analyzes opportunities and challenges in the market for stop-start vehicles. The report provides a comprehensive examination of stop-start component systems including the technologies used for energy storage. The study includes forecasts through 2020 for stop-start vehicle, battery, and ultracapacitor sales by world region, along with a detailed analysis of the benefits, drivers, and market barriers for stop-start vehicles. Key market players are also profiled.

Key Questions Addressed:

• What are the different technologies used for energy storage in stop-start vehicles?
• What are the differences between stop-start, micro- and mild-hybrid vehicles?
• Will consumers continue to purchase hybrids after stop-start vehicles are available?
• How large will the market for stop-start vehicles be?
• How will the stop-start vehicle market compare to the larger markets for fleet and consumer light-duty vehicles?
• Who are the key players in the stop-start vehicle market?
• Why has stop-start technology availability to date been concentrated in Europe and how long will that situation continue?
• What are typical savings in emissions and fuel that fleet managers can expect?"