French Billionaire Invests $120 Million in Electric Car Battery Plant Near Montréal
Photo: Creative Commons
For Pininfarina-Bolloré Bluecar and Bolloré Microbus
In what is probably a good sign for the North-American availability of the Bluecar electric vehicle, French billionaire Vincent Bolloré has picked a location East of Montréal to make lithium-metal-polymer batteries. The plan is to increase production to 5,000 units/year in 2010 and 15,000 units/year by 2012, which means hiring 200 employees on top of the 70 that currently work at the facility. 
Photo: Pininfarina-Bolloré
Mr. Bolloré thinks that his battery chemistry is superior to lithium-ion, which is used by most other car makers, because:
Lithium-ion batteries, often used in laptops and mobile phones, have been known to overheat and even catch fire, he added.
"Such a technology is not good for a big quantity of energy," said Bollore, who indicates there's no overheating risk with his technology.
"For a car, of course, it would be very dangerous."
Of course, this must be taken with a grain of salt since this comes from someone who selling a competing product...
This investment in Québec is part of Bolloré's $1.5 billion initiative to have 2 plants with a production capacity of 30,000 batteries/year to supply auto makers with an alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
The factory was bought by Bolloré from Hydro-Québec, a state-owned power company, in 2007.
Via AFP (French)
