Exopack to supply battery component for 100% electric car

-- Converting Magazine, 2/18/2008

A decade-long program to develop specially coated, conductive-foil current collectors and use them in new all-solid lithium polymeric metal (LPM) batteries for electric cars is paying off for Exopack Advanced Coatings™ (www.exopack.com).

The division of the Matthews, NC-based flexible-packaging converter has been awarded the business to supply critical current collectors for batteries designed to power a 100% electric car now under development by a European partnership. The joint venture (Bollore Group, a diversified French company and Pininfarina, an Italian niche automaker) plans to produce and deliver 20,000 of the emissions-free vehicles to buyers in Europe, Japan and the US by 2012.

Made from extremely thin foil with proprietary coatings on one or both sides, the current collector design provides a conduit for the electricity while protecting the foil from the battery chemistries. Current collectors are essential to both batteries and capacitors. The current collectors will be produced at the Matthews facility.

The new battery has a designed service life of more than 125,000 miles. Its high capacity will enable the electric car to accelerate from zero to 31 mph in under 5 seconds. Projected top speed for the new car is 80 mph. Full recharging of the new automotive battery will require five hours; a 5-min. recharge can power the car 25 for 16 miles.