Bankrupt A123 to be bought by Chinese company?

[Bob.Kerns]

The question mark is whether the deal will go through; it is being challenged by Johnson Controls.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/20...tery-deal.html

Looking around at some of their competitors, there appear to be a lot of changes coming up in the battery world:

Another competitor, ReVolt Technology, who was touting a zinc-air battery with twice the energy density, intended directly for transportation applications, filed for bankruptcy in November. http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon...ankruptcy.html

ZPower is planning to offer a zinc-silver-water battery that's supposed to have 40% higher power density, safety, and not need lithium (which has limited sources). They're focusing on tiny battery cells, but I don't see an obvious technical limitation. I don't know how much silver they need -- that's expensive -- but zinc is about 1/3 of the price of lithium.

PowerGenix (http://www.powergenix.com/) is offering a Nickel Zinc battery with power density similar to LiIon, but at half the price and without the safety drawbacks.

And of course, Valence is still alive and kicking, despite their own bankruptcy. That's gotten convoluted, with accusations that the bankruptcy was a power grab by their biggest investor, who may come out of this with sole ownership.

It does look like depth of pocketbook has as much to do with survival as technology!