Opportunities Grow For Alternative Hybrid-Car Batteries
In 1999, alternative fuels will replace lead-acid rechargeable batteries in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) from manufacturers like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The resulting increase in demand for new HEV battery technology is likely to follow the pattern demonstrated by the portable electronics industry. The auto-battery trend will be detailed in a new multiclient study from the consulting firm Kline & Co. (Little Falls, NJ; 973-435-3457).
Scope of Global Battery Business
Portable Electronics Model
Scope of Global Battery Business (Back to Top)
Nickel metal-hydride (NiMH), nickel cadmium (NiCd), lithium ion, and lithium polymer-based batteries are among the materials being considered to replace traditional lead-acid rechargeable batteries in cars. To make these new battery platforms commercially viable and attractive to consumers, leading automotive OEMs are seeking nontraditional suppliers, creating opportunities from which forward-looking companies can profit. These opportunities will be detailed in the Kline & Co. study titled Global Opportunities for Advanced Battery Technologies in Automotive Applications, 1998 to 2008.
Revenues for the global battery business reached an estimated $30 billion in 1998, according to Kline & Co. Starting, lighting, ignition, and related secondary battery applications represent approximately one-half of the overall market, while primary batteries represent approximately 35%. High-performance secondary batteries represent the remaining 15%, or $4.5 billion. Many of the leading high-performance secondary battery producers are now targeting automotive applications as their next long-term growth objective.
Portable Electronics Model (Back to Top)
The portable electronics industry provides a parallel example of the rapid and dramatic change that may occur in the automotive industry when new battery technologies are developed and commercialized. Before portable electronics exploded in growth, NiCd-based chemistry was the battery technology of choice for small, portable devices. NiCd was developed in the latter part of the 1940s and met the requirements of portable equipment users up to the late 1980s.
However, with the rapid miniaturization of portable electronics in recent years, NiCd no longer met the demands of electronics OEMs regarding such important criteria as lightweight and self-discharge. Taking advantage of this downfall, companies involved in NiMH technology positioned NiMH as a better battery solution than NiCd.
In 1993, Sony launched its lithium-ion technology to meet the increasing demands of consumers and portable electronics OEMs. Lithium-ion batteries helped strengthen Sony's leadership position in the portable electronics business because the products weighed less and ran longer than competing technologies—two major variables required by both sets of clients.
Because consumers and OEMs shifted their battery requirements, NiMH and lithium ion were commercially developed. The successful introduction of these two new chemistries, based on a market-pull, also substantially changed the competitive structure of the advanced rechargeable battery industry, and allowed new world-class competitors into this market. A similar phenomenon is likely to occur in the automotive battery industry due to the array of competing battery technologies and the rapid development of HEVs, according to Kline & Co.
For more information, call 973-435-3457.