Ultralife Boosts Lithium-Ion Battery Production Capacity
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
May 4, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- Ultralife Taiwan
Inc., a lithium-ion cell maker, recently held a
ground breaking ceremony for its second
battery factory at Hsinchu Science-Based
Industrial Park, as part of a major
capacity-expansion project.
Mass production is slated for 2002.
Expected to come on stream by the end of the
year, the new plant will come with a monthly
capacity of 1.5 million lithium-ion batteries
and three million lithium-ion polymer
batteries. With this expanded production
capacity in the pipeline, Ultralife expects to
become one of world's top 10 lithium-ion cell
makers eventually, despite fierce competition
from counterparts in Japan and Korea.
Until recently, Ultralife tended to keep a low
profile, biding its time until its R&D projects
were completed. The company may enjoy
greater exposure in the future, however, having
recently successfully developed a lithium-ion
polymer battery only 0.36mm thick. The
state-of-the-art cell is now under
accreditation among mobile phone and PDA
producers, a process expected to take just a few
months, and then Ultralife will be in line for
landing orders from these producers.
Ultralife's existing lithium-ion polymer battery
plant in the Hsinchu Park delivers some
100,000 cells monthly. This monthly capacity
can be maximized to 200,000 by adding more
machines, and Ultralife has decided to radically
increase the plant's capacity as well as building
a second plant in the science-based park.
Once this capacity expansion is complete, by
the end of 2002, the plant will be outfitted with
four production lines, each of which harnesses
monthly capacities of 750,000 units.
Lithium-ion polymer batteries use the newest
rechargeable energy technology, and are
available for consumer use in products such as
portable computers, PDAs and cellular
telephones.
A lithium-ion polymer battery has a high
voltage per cell (3.8 volts on average), has
excellent energy on both a weight and volume
basis and can be made in very thin and large
footprint configurations. A lithium-ion polymer
battery uses liquid lithium-ion
electrochemistry in a matrix of conductive
polymers which eliminate free electrolytes
within the cell.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
