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Honda's Integrated Motor Assist mild hybrid system (right) would get a boost from new high-power lithium-ion batteries the company could start using for 2010 models.

By Bill Visnic, Senior Editor

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Honda Motor Co. is preparing for an all-new, advanced lithium-ion battery that will allow its engineers to extend Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid-electric technology to larger vehicles, a senior company executive told Green Car Advisor during an annual auto-industry conference frequented by heavy-hitters from carmakers' management ranks.

Honda has in the past been non-committal about lithium-ion, but that posture apparently is changing. And Honda recently was linked in lithium-ion talk with Japanese electronics giant and battery developer Sanyo Electric Co.

John German, American Honda's manager of environmental and energy analysis, said the coming lithium-ion battery formula -- the developer of which he wouldn't name -- does not enjoy extra capacity compared with known lithium-ion characteristics. Instead, the new chemistry is targeted at allowing the batteries to charge much more quickly.

This, in turn, will allow for an increased amount of battery capacity that can be assigned to actually powering the motor. And more power means the IMA system can be employed for larger, heavier vehicles.

In addition, German says the new batteries will be markedly cheaper.

Apart from potential for vehicles such as the Ridgeline midsized pickup or the Odyssey minivan, the extra IMA performance could mean a return of the Accord Hybrid - this time using a 4-cylinder engine instead of the first-generation Accord Hybrid's V6.

German says the new butt-kicker lithium-ion chemistry should be ready in about the same timeframe as GM's lithium-ion-dependent Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" electric vehicle, the car that put lithium-ion development on the hot seat.

And while Honda brags about the slenderness of IMA's engine-enhancing electric motor - which is wedged between the engine and transmission - German says underhood space has become so valuable that even the currently required 1.5 inches or so is tough to engineer.

But Honda's advanced lithium-ion battery's potential for the midsize Accord must be tempting, as the company is no doubt anxious to get back in the game against Toyota's Camry Hybrid, of which Toyota reputedly has just a five-day inventory.

Honda's first Accord Hybrid was designed for performance enhancement, coupling the IMA system with the company's thrusty 3-liter V6.

Accord's loyal buyers didn't respond, however, and Honda dropped the Accord Hybrid after the '07 model year and before the next-generation model was introduced for '08.

While Toyota's hybrids keep selling well, German told Green Car Advisor, that he thinks Toyota invested in the wrong technology by opting for the "full" hybrid design instead of Honda's IMA mild hybrid system.

"We get 80 percent of the (full-hybrid) benefit at 60 percent of the cost," German insists.

Source;
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/08/honda-awaiting-new-super-lithium-ion-battery-for-next-generation-hybrids.html