Boston-Power signs up BMZ to make battery packs

LONDON — Boston-Power Inc. (Westborough, Mass.), a vendor of lithium-ion batteries, is teaming up with Batterien-Montage-Zentrum (Karlstein, Germany), a supplier of rechargeable battery packs.

Under terms of the agreement, BMZ will manufacture battery packs and market to the portable power, transportation, utility energy storage and government markets products based on Boston-Power's Sonata and Swing lithium-ion cells.

Founded in 2005 by Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Boston-Power has developed cells, called Sonata, that can withstand over 1000 charge/discharge cycles and that offer three to five times the life expectancy of traditional cells that are used in notebooks and many other portable devices, BMZ claimed.

The Sonata cells also offer fast charge capabilities, charging to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes, about the fifth of the time of conventional 18650 cells, while maintaining their long life advantage.

Boston-Power's other product line, Swing, is designed primarily for use in transportation applications such as electric scooters, electric bikes and electric vehicles, as well as utility energy storage applications. Swing offers long life capabilities, with 1000 cycles at 100 percent depth of discharge and 2000 cycles at 90 percent depth of discharge. In addition, Swing features an energy density of 420-watt-hours per litre, approximately twice the density of today’s lithium phosphate based cells, BMZ said.

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