Leyden Energy, Beijing BESK Technology, KPIT, Google.

Battery start-up to die? After the recent acquisition of patents from Leyden Energy by Wanxiang’s A123 (we reported), the 7-year old company sold even more assets around its Li-ion technology. Therefore, questions have been raised on the liquidity and potential bankruptcy of the firm, which has raised almost 50 million dollars since it was founded in 2007. Leyden has yet to comment.
gigaom.com

Chinese battery production: Korea’s SK Innovation JV in China, Beijing BESK Technology, has won a contract for the delivery of over 2,000 batteries to the state-run Beijing Automotive Industries, which is part of the joint venture it is ordering from. BAI will use the batteries for two new electric models. BESK is planning to increase capacity of its battery production line from currently 2,000 to 20,000 by 2017.
koreaittimes.com

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Hybrid retrofit kit: KPIT is about to commercialise a system which can turn any car into a hybrid. The Revolo consists of an electric drive, the battery and controller. It will cost from about 1,100-2,200 dollars but has still await clearance before it can enter the market. Is this the system to receive subsidies by the Indian government (we reported yesterday)?
forbes.com, youtube.com

Google will pay 0ne million dollars to those who can present them with a tablet-sized power converter. The ‘Little Box Challenge’ looks to shrink the size of current converters by ten times. If a solution is found, the internet giant could use this technology in solar panels or even EV charging applications.
transportevolved.com, cleantechnica.com, littleboxchallenge.com (the challenge)

– Feedback –

Most clicked link on Thursday was the news of BMW’s plans to introduce the i9 – a plug-in supercar for its 100th anniversary.
auto-motor-und-sport.de