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发表于 2012-12-3 21:07
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[转帖] 锂电池制造先驱申请破产
http://www.ecocn.org/thread-171878-1-1.html
Pioneering Battery-Maker Files for Bankruptcy
锂电池制造先驱申请破产
时间:2012-11-06 10:47 来源:环球科学（huanqiukexue.com）
A123 Systems, which commercialized different approaches to lithium ion rechargeable batteries, went under after an 11-year run
A123系统公司曾将制造锂离子充电电池的新方法商业化，但在11年经营后破产。
A123 SYSTEMS struggled to get its batteries into the automotive market.
A123系统公司之前一直努力在汽车市场推广其生产的电池
Image: Flickr/Graham Davis
By Devin Powell of Nature magazine
A company that charged up the US battery industry with its lithium-ion technology has gone dead. After an 11-year run, A123 Systems filed for bankruptcy on 16 October.
美国电池生产商A123系统公司于10月16日申请破产。这家有着十一年历史的电池生产商曾通过其锂离子电池技术在美国电池行业占有重要地位，但现在该公司将面临倒闭。
For insiders, the news is no surprise. A123, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, has been buoyed by government grants and private investment but has fallen on hard times in the past year (see 'Manufacturing woes haunt high-tech battery maker'). Again and again its rechargeable batteries — similar to the batteries that power laptops and iPhones — had trouble finding a foothold in the automotive market.
对于知情人而言，这个消息并不令人惊讶。A123总部位于马萨诸塞州的沃尔瑟姆，一直依靠政府拨款和私人投资支持，但在过去的一年里，该公司经营困难，陷入困境（见杂志2012年5月22日文章《制造业灾难困扰高科技电池生产商》）。该公司生产的充电电池——功能原理类似于笔记本电脑和iPhone上的电池——在汽车市场屡次受挫、难以立足。
Now some worry that A123's collapse could stunt future investments in US battery research. “My concern is that the A123 debacle will disillusion the people who put in money thinking they were going to make big bucks on car batteries,” says John Goodenough, a materials scientist at the University of Texas at Austin.
一些人担心，A123的破产会阻碍未来对美国电池研究的投资。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的材料学家John Goodenough说：“我担心A123的倒闭会给那些想通过投资汽车电池赚大钱的人泼一盆冷水。”
Once a model of innovation in academia, A123 licensed technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge by materials scientist (and company co-founder) Yet-Ming Chiang. Exploring different approaches to lithium-ion batteries, Chiang's team figured out how to boost the power of such cells by sprinkling zirconium and other metals into a blend of lithium, iron and phosphate pioneered by Goodenough.
A123的专利技术是由材料学家（同时是A123创始人之一）蒋业明研发，是位于美国马萨诸塞州剑桥的麻省理工学院的成果，曾经是学术界的创新模范。蒋业明及其研发团队在尝试了多种制造锂电池的方法后，由美国科学家Goodenough发现了提升电池电力的方法，即将锆和其他金属洒在一种锂、铁、磷酸盐混合物之上。。
The power, safety and longevity provided by this formula attracted the toolmaker Black & Decker, which in 2005 chose A123's batteries to power its cordless DeWALT tools.
新配方研发出的锂离子电池具有电力更强、更安全、寿命更长的特点，被工具制造商百得公司看中，于2005年将A123电池配备于DeWALT移动工具系列。
“In a remarkably short time we went from a concept to manufacturing in volume for a new line of power tools,” says Bart Riley, co-founder and chief technical officer of A123. “We hit the industry with quite a splash.”
A123创始人之一、首席技术官Bart Riley说：“在非常短的时间内，我们将概念变为现实，使我们的技术应用于大规模生产中，为新电动工具系列提供动力。一石激起千层浪，我们冲击了整个电池行业。”
Losing advantage
失去优势
Buoyed by the early success, the company pushed into other markets. Grants from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) — an organization composed of car manufacturers Chrysler, Ford and General Motors (GM) — financed the development of batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. BAE Systems in Arlington, Virginia, became a client, making A123 the world's largest supplier of lithium-ion batteries for buses and trucks, says Riley.
据Riley说，在初战告捷的激励下，A123打进其他市场。美国能源部（DOE）和由克莱斯勒、福特、通用汽车公司组成的美国先进电池联合体（USABC）为A123提供拨款，资助用于电动汽车和混合动力汽车的电池研发。BAE系统公司位于弗吉尼亚州阿林顿的分部则成为了A123的客户，使得A123成为了全世界公交和卡车锂离子电池的最大供应商。
But penetrating the consumer automotive market proved more difficult. A123's technology generated lots of power by expelling energy quickly, but it didn't store significantly more energy than other lithium-ion technologies.
不过A123一直难以打入消费汽车市场。A123的技术通过快速释放能量产生大量电力，但相比其他锂离子电池技术，该技术的能量储藏能力并不具有明显优势。
A123 tried to overcome this limitation, but “we were moving away from our strengths,” says Riley. “The more we moved away from power and towards energy, the less of a technical advantage we had.”
A123试图克服这一技术缺陷，但Riley说：“我们在那时失去了自己的优势。随着我们将注意力从电力转移至能量上，我们更多的失去了技术优势。”
In 2009 A123 lost a bid to make the battery for GM’s Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid vehicle. GM chose the Korean company LG Chem, based near Seoul.
2009年，在通用雪佛兰沃蓝达插入式混合动力车电池系统的竞争中，A123竞标失败。通用最后选择了位于首尔附近的韩国企业LG化学。
A123 pivoted, landing a contract in 2009 for Chrysler's proposed electric vehicle program, ENVI. An initial public offering in 2009 raised about US$391 million for the company. A DOE grant of about $249 million and tax breaks from Michigan allowed the company to build two factories in the state.
A123随即转移目标，于2009年与克莱斯勒签署协议，参与克莱斯勒提出的电动汽车计划ENVI。同年，A123首次公募，筹集约3.91亿美元投资。同时，A123利用能源部的2.49亿美元拨款及密歇根州的减税优惠，在密歇根州建立两家工厂。
Then Chrysler declared bankruptcy in 2009, and the plans evaporated. A123 signed a contract in 2012 to sell batteries to Fisker, a small US carmaker in Anaheim, California, also funded by the DOE. But production of Fisker's hybrid electric sports car, the Karma, was delayed. Defects in the batteries led to an expensive recall. With its finances declining, A123 laid off some of its Michigan workers in November 2011.
但在2009年，克莱斯勒宣布破产，ENVI计划随之破灭。2012年，A123签署合同，为美国加利福尼亚阿纳海姆的小型汽车制造商菲斯克提供电池，而菲斯克也接受能源部资助。但菲斯克的混合电动跑车Karma延期生产。同时，由于电池缺陷，导致A123花大成本召回电池。因财务状况变差，A123于2011年11月对密歇根工厂进行部分裁员。
Dim outlook
前景黯淡
“This is very tough business,” says Ted Miller, the Ford representative on the USABC management committee. “If you look across the landscape of companies that have been successful, it's kind of rare to be only in batteries.”
“电池的经营非常困难。”USABC管理委员会的福特代表Ted Miller说：“如果分析成功企业的模式/布局，（会发现这些成功的企业往往会还经营其他类别的产品），（所以）只立足于电池业（而获得成功）是很罕见的。”
Still, A123's downfall isn't deterring another small company from staying in the race. Envia Systems, based in Newark, California, funded by the DOE and GM, makes electrodes from a mixture of nickel, cobalt and manganese developed by Khalil Amine and other materials scientists at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The material packs a record-setting energy density, the company claims — potentially allowing the batteries to be smaller, and thus cheaper, than those based on other lithium-ion technologies.
但是，A123的没落并没有影响另一家小公司的竞争。总部位于加州纽瓦克的Envia系统公司受能源部和通用资助。该电池公司采用伊利诺伊州阿贡国家实验室的材料学家Khalil Amine等人所研发的技术，使用镍、钴、锰合金制造电极。据该公司声称，这种材料蕴藏的能量密度可创纪录——相比其它锂离子电池技术，这项技术可能使得电池体积更小、价格更低。
“Our guess is that by 2015, the first cars with our technology should be coming out,” says Atul Kapadia, Envia's chief executive.
Envia首席执行官Atul Kapadia表示：“据我们预计，到2015年，我们的电池技术将首次应用于汽车上。”
Johnson Controls (JCI), based in Glendale, Wisconsin, has made an offer to purchase A123's assets, including the Michigan factories. JCI, which makes products for automobiles and buildings, has received about $5.5 million from the USABC to develop lithium-ion batteries. But the company isn't saying whether it will stick with A123's approach or try another technology.
位于威斯康星州格伦代尔的美国江森自控公司（JCI）已提出收购A123全部资产，包括A123位于密歇根州的两家工厂。江森自控为汽车和建筑提供产品，目前已获得USABC提供的550万美元，用于发展锂离子电池。但目前，该公司并未说明将来是采用A123技术，还是采用其它技术。
Ultimately, the fate of US battery makers will remain tied to that of the electric car itself. And for now, no battery technology can compete cost-wise with the internal combustion engine.
在未来，美国电池制造商的命运最终还是维系在电动车上。目前，没有一家电池技术与内燃发动机竞争时，在成本上占优势。
“The outlook in the near future for electric cars does not look that promising,” says Daniel Scherson, an electrochemist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. “They are still just too expensive.”
“在不久的将来，电动汽车的前景看起来仍不容乐观。”位于俄亥俄州克利夫兰的凯斯西储大学的电化学家Daniel Scherson说：“电动汽车的电池系统还是太昂贵了。”
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on October 24, 2012.
By Devin Powell
原文地址：http://www.scientificamerican.co ... iles-for-bankruptcy |
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发表于 2012-12-3 21:40
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