The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World

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The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World Page 29

by Steve LeVine


  management style of, 143, 217, 221

  and NMC, 9, 67–68, 70, 72, 74, 160

  and sales, 64, 68, 87, 128–31

  and Thackeray, 27, 73–74, 77–78, 128, 141–42, 221

  and venture capital, 64, 84, 86–87, 106, 201

  and Volt, 145–48

  and voltage fade, 155, 156–57, 159, 160, 239

  and Wan Gang, 3, 6, 60, 76, 79

  ChampionsGate conference, 177, 180–81, 195–98

  China, 96–97, 124

  automobile market in, 178, 180

  and battery competition, 4–6, 7, 71, 79, 99, 100, 103, 136

  Cultural Revolution in, 97

  and electric vehicles, 4, 8, 142, 177–78, 180, 184, 282–83

  patents filed in, 66, 197

  resources imported by, 61, 187

  Chrysler, 286

  Chu, Steven, 199–200

  and Battery Hub, 133, 137, 204, 252, 253

  and Bell Labs, 119, 120–22

  and Energy Department, 119, 123–24, 135

  re-creating Bell Labs, 131, 133, 140

  climate change, 8, 60, 84, 143

  Clinton, Bill, 125, 195, 199

  Coetzer, Johan, 28

  Coghill, Holly, 218–19, 220, 225, 228

  Crabtree, George, 226–27, 243, 245–46, 248, 252–53

  Crandall, Keith, 127

  Crane, evaluations by, 195, 202, 262, 277–78, 279

  Croy, Jason, 168–73, 228, 234, 238–41, 262, 278, 285–86, 287

  crystallography, 31, 33

  Dahn, Jeff, 58, 153, 196–98, 248

  Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 47, 58, 153, 196

  DARPA, 129, 203

  David, Bill, 32, 33

  diesel engines, 183, 184

  Dole, Robert, 126

  Dow Chemical, 116, 149, 150, 151, 196, 235, 243

  Edison, Thomas A., 36–37, 121

  electricity, wind and solar, 8, 191

  electric vehicles:

  batteries for, 4–6, 8, 19, 25, 39, 44, 47–48, 59, 60, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 103, 107, 109, 125, 131–32, 142, 153–56, 161, 195–98, 207, 230–31, 255

  five-five-five, 246, 248, 270

  forty miles on one charge, 44–45, 47

  future outlook for, 178–81, 183–85, 189

  green footprint of, 214–15

  hybrids, 8, 20, 36, 76, 109, 177–78, 179, 184, 185, 257

  market for, 106, 109, 177–78, 181, 183, 186, 257, 267

  new research system for, 244, 245–46, 286

  production costs of, 183, 198, 201, 257

  reliability in, 154–55, 187

  Emanuel, Rahm, 131, 228, 253, 254

  En-Caesar (National Center for Energy Storage Research), 133–36, 137, 138–39, 150, 282

  EnerDel, 131, 185

  Energy Department, U.S.:

  Annual Merit Review, 141, 227–28

  and ARPA-E, 193–95, 199–206

  and auto industry, 105–6, 107

  and Battery Hub, 133, 138, 204, 216, 218–19, 224, 226, 245, 247, 249, 250–52, 282

  conference held by, 190–91

  and En-Caesar, 134–36

  and Envia, 165–66, 231–32

  and national laboratories, 10, 11, 40, 77, 78, 105, 119, 122, 123, 127, 135, 140, 167, 287

  and publication, 166

  risk aversion in, 125–26

  and Sematech, 129–31

  and voltage fade, 158–61, 167, 283

  energy outlook, 178–80

  Envia Systems:

  and ARPA-E, 193–95, 201–3, 207, 213

  and battery competition, 78, 105–8, 193–95, 197, 201–3, 204–6, 207–8, 213–14

  buyout sought by, 108, 201, 205–6

  and Croy, 238–41

  and DC resistance, 230–31

  and GM, 110–17, 205, 206, 230–31, 255–59, 260–67, 272–75, 276–81, 286

  and Kumar, see Kumar, Sujeet

  lawsuits against, 280–81

  and licensing, 86–87, 151, 156

  and NMC, 72, 111, 156, 162, 169–71, 195, 196, 197–98, 202, 233–34, 286

  start-up, 71–72, 78, 86, 165, 201

  and venture capital, 86–87, 111–14

  and voltage fade, 157–58, 163–65, 171

  ExxonMobil, 8, 21, 35, 134

  energy outlook by, 178–80, 191, 232

  Faguy, Peter, 159–61, 166, 227, 283

  Faraday, Michael, 27

  Fermi, Enrico, 10, 23

  financial meltdown (2008–2009), 7, 181, 190

  Ford, Henry, 124

  Ford Motor Company, 19–20, 21, 25, 158, 183, 286

  fossil fuels, 121, 143, 178, 180, 183, 188

  Franklin, Benjamin, 18

  Freund, Erwin O., 11–12

  Frisch, Damon, 231, 260

  Gallagher, Kevin, 100, 185, 207–10, 224, 233

  and ARPA-E, 201, 204

  and Battery Hub, 212–14, 228, 243–45, 252

  and Envia, 201, 208, 213–14, 277, 279

  and Nelson-Gallagher model, 212, 213–14, 243–44

  and Obama visit, 268–71

  and voltage fade, 158, 239, 285–86

  Galvani, Luigi, 18

  Gates, Bill, 195, 199

  Geely, 6, 284

  General Electric (GE), 8, 62

  General Motors (GM), 71, 183, 188, 196, 284, 285

  bankruptcy filing by, 114

  and Chevy Spark, 214

  and DC resistance, 230–31

  and Envia, 110–17, 205, 206, 230–31, 255–59, 260–67, 272–75, 276–81, 286

  and EV1, 184

  GM Ventures, 109–16, 151, 205

  and Volt, see Volt

  Goldwasser, Eugene, 127

  Goodenough, John, 21, 22–26, 91, 113, 210, 269

  and Battery Hub, 242–43

  leadership style of, 25–26, 30, 101

  and lithium-cobalt-oxide battery, 25, 27, 28–29, 31, 35, 38, 44, 45, 52, 58, 119, 152, 154

  and Padhi, 37–39

  and patents, 33, 36, 38–39, 66

  and Thackeray, 30–32, 33, 38

  Goodenough-Kanamori rules, 23

  Greenberger, Jim, 130–31

  Grove, Andrew, 75–76, 129

  Gruen, Dieter, 10–11, 13–15, 209

  Henriksen, Gary, 236–37

  Herschel, William, 27

  Higgs boson, 119

  Hillebrand, Don, 182–85, 187–89, 228, 284, 286

  Honda, 115, 116, 117, 206, 231, 257

  Howard, Matt, 268–69

  Howell, Dave, 107, 134–35, 160, 167, 210

  Hu Jintao, 4

  hybrid vehicles, 8, 20, 36, 76, 109, 177–78, 179, 184, 185, 257

  Hyundai, 196

  IBM, 186, 206

  India, Union Carbide leak in, 36

  Intel, 75–76, 121, 129

  intercalation, use of term, 21

  internal combustion engine, 19, 45, 109, 132, 154–55, 179, 181, 183

  iPhone, 129, 187, 198, 250–51

  Isaacs, Eric, 119, 269, 286

  and Battery Hub, 135, 137–38, 216, 218–19, 220–21, 225–26, 243–44, 248, 250, 251, 253, 254

  and En-Caesar, 135, 137

  Iyer, Hari, 256, 258, 262–66, 274, 276, 277

  Jae-kook Kim, 56, 57

  Japan:

  battery production in, 35, 102–3, 136, 178, 192

  competition in, 36, 75, 99, 129, 130, 177–78, 214, 280

  consumer battery market in, 5, 7, 8, 9, 142

  and electric vehicles, 184, 284

  patents in, 39, 66, 98–99, 197

  U.S. ideas
moving to, 36, 187, 205

  Jobs, Steve, 202

  Johnson, Chris:

  and lithium-ion, 41, 43, 58, 153

  and NMC, 41, 43, 58–59, 72, 153, 159, 236, 278

  and patents, 46, 56–57, 72, 153

  and Thackeray, 40–41, 42, 43, 46, 287

  and voltage fade, 159, 227–28

  Johnson, Lady Bird, 179

  Johnson Controls, 68, 131, 149, 150

  Joshua, Matthus, 266, 273, 276

  Jun Lu, 99

  Kang Eun Kyung, 100–101

  Kapadia, Atul, 91

  and Envia/Kumar, 86, 106–7, 114–17, 166, 202–6, 255, 257–58, 261, 262–67, 274, 276–77, 279, 280–81

  and venture capital, 85–86, 106–7, 112, 117

  Khosla, Vinod, 190–91

  Kumar, Sujeet, 83–87, 88–90, 91, 192–98

  and Argonne, 83–85, 86, 152

  and ARPA-E, 193–98, 201–6, 207, 230, 233, 277

  and Chamberlain, 86–87, 88, 115–17, 203–4

  and Energy Department, 105, 165–66, 190, 193, 231–32

  and Envia, 86, 107–8, 111, 114, 116–17, 162–66, 206, 238–41, 239, 255–59, 260–67, 272–75, 276–81, 286

  and GM, 110–14, 165, 205, 230–31, 256–59, 260–67, 276, 278–80, 286

  and NanoeXA, 94–95, 267, 280–81

  and NMC, 83, 84, 94, 95, 111, 128, 152, 155, 165, 169, 170–71, 193–96, 231, 261, 277, 286

  and venture capital, 84–87, 106, 116, 126, 205–6

  and voltage fade, 155, 157, 163–64, 168–69, 233–34, 238–39

  lattice, 44

  Lauckner, Jon, 109–14, 205, 231, 280, 286

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 132–33, 135–36, 165, 166, 260

  Lawroski, Stephen, 13

  LG Chemical, 9, 70–72, 110, 113–14, 156, 257, 261, 267, 285

  Lindbergh, Erik, 286

  Littlewood, Peter, 118–20, 122, 243–44, 286

  Madia, Bill, 218–22, 223–24, 226, 253–54

  Majumdar, Arun, 195, 199, 200–201, 203–5, 279

  Manhattan Project, 10, 11, 129, 143

  Mansfield, Mike, 23

  Markovic, Nenad, 243

  Mathias, Mark, 216, 231

  Matsushita, 197

  microchips, 75, 186

  Microsoft model, 118

  MIT, Lincoln Laboratory, 23

  mobile phones, 122, 186

  Moore’s law, 186

  Morse, Edward, 180

  Musk, Elon, 232–33

  NanoeXa, 83–84, 94–95, 267, 280–81

  Naperville, 13

  natural gas, 60

  Nelson, Paul, 16–17, 210–13

  Newman, John, 132, 134–35

  Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), 37–38, 39

  Nissan, 107, 115, 116, 158, 183, 202, 284

  Leaf, 177, 179, 183, 186

  Nitz, Larry, 266–67, 273

  nuclear age, 10, 14, 20

  Oak Ridge National Lab, 11, 14, 137, 228, 242–43, 260

  Obama, Barack:

  Argonne visit of, 268–71

  one-million-car goal, 5, 60

  Obama administration, 135, 280

  and battery competition, 70–71, 84, 107–8, 130, 187, 252, 253

  and economic stimulus, 131, 203

  and electric cars, 60, 106, 125, 145, 177, 178, 187, 261

  and LG Chemical, 70–71, 113

  oil:

  Arab embargo (1973), 21, 23, 28

  demand for, 8, 60–61, 178

  electricity as challenge to, 152

  and energy security, 142–43, 284

  prices of, 8, 35, 60, 178, 179, 180, 183, 189

  public image of, 84, 146

  shale gas and, 180, 190

  Okada, Shigeto, 37–39

  omnivorous engine, 188

  OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), 8, 23, 61, 183

  Orbach, Ray, 242

  Ovshinsky, Stan, 36

  Oxford University, 24, 29–30, 32, 33, 36

  Padhi, Akshaya, 37–39

  Pak, Michael, 84, 94–95, 267

  Panasonic, 9, 36, 197, 214, 232, 265

  Park Sang-Jin, 102–3

  Patel, Anish, 113

  patent applications:

  for NMC, 45, 58–59, 66, 170, 197

  race for, 39, 47

  for spinel, 33, 38–39

  patents:

  challenges to, 47

  contributions described in, 57

  enforcement of, 73

  failure to patent, 127

  government-funded, 68

  infringement of, 39, 71

  international, 65–69, 98, 153, 197

  inventors’ names on, 156

  lawsuits for, 39, 197

  lead time for, 57–58

  and licensing, 36, 68–69, 95

  protection of, 78

  provisional, 46, 55

  and royalties, 36, 98, 149–51

  signing away rights to, 36, 77

  stealing ideas for, 38, 55

  Pentagon, 127

  Persson, Kristin, 243

  Peters, Mark, 218, 220, 228, 251, 253

  Planté, Gaston, 19

  plutonium, creation of, 11

  Popular Science, 19–20

  Preto, Sandy, 16

  Prius, 36, 153, 158, 177–78, 179, 185, 186, 188–89

  Putin, Vladimir, 8, 284

  Ralston Purina, 36

  RCA, 62

  Reagan, Ronald, 35, 122, 129

  Redpoint Ventures, 112

  Rickover, Hyman, 14

  Riley, Bart, 154–58, 163

  RockPort Capital Partners, 84–85

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 11

  Russia, oil production in, 61, 183

  Sadoway, Donald, 199

  SAGE (computer memory), 23

  Samsung, 9, 155, 158, 202, 205, 213, 231, 261, 265, 267, 284

  Samsung SDI, 102–3, 104

  Sattelberger, Al, 5

  Schroeder, Dave, 62, 63–65

  Seaborg, Glenn, 10

  Seegopaul, Purnesh, 202–3, 263, 266, 274–75

  Sematech (Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology), 129–31, 133, 282

  Sharp, 214

  Shin-Etsu, 265, 266, 281

  silicon chips, 75–76

  Silicon Valley, 129, 150, 201

  Asian immigrants in, 90–94

  Sinkula, Mike, 83–87, 88, 95, 110, 114, 116–17, 202, 263, 280

  Slater, Mike, 207, 209

  smart phones, 5, 167, 186, 187

  Smil, Vaclav, 199

  Solyndra, 203, 240

  Sony, 35, 41, 118, 152, 197, 198, 214

  South Africa, 27–28, 41–42, 43, 47

  South Korea:

  battery competition in, 99, 103, 114, 136, 214, 280, 284

  consumer battery market in, 5, 8, 9, 37, 142

  patents filed in, 66, 197

  trade alliance with, 70–72

  spec sheets, 115–16

  spinel, 28–29, 30–32, 33, 38–39, 41–42, 45–46, 110, 113, 152, 153

  Spitfire (chip), 85

  Srinivasan, Venkat, 91, 120, 149, 220

  Straubel, JB, 232

  Sun-Ho Kang, 100–104, 155, 157–59, 213, 231

  Sun Microsystems, 190

  technology:

  and global financial crises, 7–8

  and Moore’s law, 186

  usual path of, 185–86, 189, 192, 201

  Teller, Edward, 23

  Temping Yu, 99

  Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 11

 
Tesla Motors, 232–33, 284

  Thackeray, Lisa, 42, 217

  Thackeray, Mike, 27–33, 40–48, 67, 103, 235–36, 237, 269, 270

  and battery competition, 78, 91, 126, 180, 182

  and Battery Hub, 132, 135, 137, 141–42, 149, 217–18, 221, 227–28, 248, 251, 254, 269

  and Chamberlain, 27, 73–74, 77–78, 128, 141–42, 221

  and collaboration, 140–42, 170

  and Croy, 168, 170–72, 238, 241, 286, 287

  and Envia/Kumar, 78, 85, 166, 168–72, 207, 255–56, 277, 278

  and Johnson, 40–41, 42, 43, 46, 287

  and lithium-ion, 31–33, 41–42, 45–46, 152, 153

  move to Argonne, 41–42, 48, 53, 98, 102

  and NMC, 41, 43–47, 55–57, 58, 66, 70–72, 72, 74, 79, 84, 102, 127, 132, 141, 152, 153–57, 160, 197

  and patents, 33, 46–47, 73, 78, 84, 127, 153, 156, 170

  and spinel, 28–29, 30–32, 33, 38, 41–42, 45–46, 110, 113, 152, 153

  and voltage fade, 154–57, 159–60, 210, 238

  Thatcher, Margaret, 35

  thermodynamics, 154, 169, 170

  3M Company, 58, 66, 153, 197–98

  Toda, 67, 156

  Toyota, 8, 115, 116, 117, 189, 231, 257, 284

  and Prius, see Prius

  Trahey, Lynn, 207, 208–10, 212, 268–71

  transistor, 122

  Tulgey Wood, 11–12

  Ullrick, Brad, 224–25

  Union Carbide, 36

  Union of Concerned Scientists, 214–15

  United States:

  and battery competition, 5, 6, 7, 9, 68, 71, 74, 107, 151

  energy requirements of, 75

  industrial decline in, 37, 129

  research cutbacks in, 62, 65

  University of Chicago, 127

  Stagg Field, 10, 11

  University of Texas, 39, 242

  uranium-235, 11

  Vaughey, Jack, 135, 228, 235, 237–38

  Vegetabile, Jim, 147

  Venkatachalam, Mani, 163, 165

  venture capital, 84–87, 106–7, 111–13, 116–17, 126, 128, 190–91, 201, 266, 274

  Verbrugge, Mark, 111

  Vissers, Don, 41–42, 53, 55, 102

  Volt, 109–13, 145–48

  batteries for, 3, 4, 5, 47–48, 70, 107, 113, 146–48, 155, 197–98, 233, 257, 266, 272, 280, 285

  as concept car, 109, 110, 147

  cost of, 72, 107, 109, 257

  fires in, 145–46

  as hybrid, 109, 185

  in the lab, 188

  market for, 72, 109, 183

  next generation of, 110, 112, 256–57

  sales of, 109, 177, 186

  Volta, Alessandro, 18, 19, 45

  Wan Gang, 60, 76, 96, 178, 180, 280, 282–83, 284

  U.S. visit of, 3–6, 7, 9, 27, 79

  Wanxiang, 252

  Watson, T. J., 121

  Whittingham, Stan, 21, 24, 35

 

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