PVI, which manufactures electric buses and trucks in partnership with Renault Trucks, has agreed to purchase U-Charge XP lithium phosphate battery systems from Valence Technology. The agreement is Valence’s first with an automotive OEM and could be worth approximately $3 million to Valence in FY2010.
PVI and Renault Trucks recently announced an agreement to develop concept trucks and demonstrators of light commercial EV vehicles including an all-electric version of the Maxity. The first demonstrator will be powered by Valence lithium phosphate batteries. The all-electric Maxity represents a significant advancement of how goods can be transported in urban environments with zero emissions.
Pierre Midrouillet, managing director of PVI, said the supply agreement with Valence “is critical because the battery is the enabling technology for our electric platforms.” He added that Valence’s chemistry “provides both safety and long life not found in other lithium-ion batteries. “We will be incorporating Valence solutions not only into the all-electric Maxity concept truck, but also into a number of our other EV projects.”
Valence holds an extensive IP portfolio for phosphate cathode materials, including lithium iron magnesium phosphate, lithium vanadium-based phosphate (LVP), and lithium vanadium-based fluorophosphates (LVPF). Valence’s single-step preparative method, the Carbothermal Reduction (CTR) process, is also patented.