Johnson Controls reveals new hybrid-electric car batteries

Milwaukee - Automotive supplier Johnson Controls unveiled its newest products this week at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The additions to the line are part of the company’s plan to build on their existing technology, increasing ease of use for customers and branching out into new markets.

Moving into a growing market, Johnson showed off its latest vehicular battery, designed for hybrid electric vehicles. The NiMH, or nickel-metal-hydride, “prismatic” battery was developed largely with technologies from Varta Battery Automotive Business, which Johnson acquired in October of 2002.

The NiMH prismatic battery follows the introduction of Johnson’s NiMH cylindrical cell, another method of packaging power for hybrid vehicles. Johnson currently markets NiMH cells to hybrid-electric buses in Europe, and plans to market the new batteries to current and future generation HEV’s that are introduced in America as well.

“HEVs represent a small but rapidly growing part of the modern-day automotive market,” said Lou Senunas, Johnson’s vice president of advanced battery/hybrid technology, in a statement. “With our technological strengths, long-term experience, and manufacturing capacity, we are well-positioned to charge forward [in] the emerging HEV segment.”

The company also upgraded its remote control systems for opening garage doors and activating home security systems from the car. Installed in the vehicle’s overhead console, HomeLink is marketed to auto dealers and independent customers.

Johnson has streamlined the system using technology developed through investments in access-control industry technology. The addition increases the ease of training the device and decreases the time to program it.