After Saab Bankruptcy, Boston-Power Finds a Foothold in China

7:29 a.m. | Updated Boston-Power, the Massachusetts-based battery manufacturer that was a supplier to Saab’s electric-vehicle program, has emerged from the messy debacle of the Swedish automaker’s bankruptcy with a new partnership. This time, the company will be supplying battery packs to the E.V. arm of the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company, or B.A.I.C. The car they will build together bears a significant quantity of Saab DNA. The Swedish automaker’s bankruptcy and subsequent splitting up of assets, however, places the partnership on a rather tangled family tree. Working with Boston-Power, the Beijing Electric Vehicle Company, a subsidiary of B.A.I.C., will build battery versions of its parent’s C70 sedan, which is based on the previous-generation Saab 9-5. That car was developed under the ownership of General Motors, Saab’s parent before its purchase by Spyker in 2010. B.A.I.C. bought the rights to build a version of the 9-5 in 2009. Christina Lampe-Onnerud, the founder and international chairwoman of Boston-Power, said in a telephone interview that her company was on a “fast track” with B.A.I.C., having worked with the Chinese automaker for three years. “The car we’re putting out together is based on the 9-5,” she said. “It’s funny that it worked out this way after all that work we put into the Saab platform.” The small fleet of ePower cars Boston-Power developed with Saab were based on the 9-3 SportCombi wagon, not the 9-5, but Ms. Lampe-Onnerud said her familiarity with Saab’s cars aided in the development of the electric C70. The company’s Swing line of batteries are estimated to have a 10-year lifespan and perform within a wide temperature range. The C70 sedan would not require a dedicated cooling system for its battery pack, Ms. Lampe-Onnerud said. She added that the battery-powered C70 would be sold in China, with “hundreds” produced this year. The cars are expected to travel approximately 100 miles on a full charge of their 30-kilowatt-hour battery packs, and would reach full charge in less than eight hours at 220 volts. Battery cells for the early cars will be made at Boston-Power facilities in Taiwan, but the company has a factory under construction at Liyang, in eastern China. In its first phase, to be completed by the end of 2012, the new factory is expected to be capable of supplying cells, assembled into packs in Beijing, for 12,000 cars annually. By the end of 2014, plans call for the factory to have the capacity to outfit another 24,000 cars. “The opportunity we saw in 2009 and 2010 for electric cars in China turned out to be correct,” Ms. Lampe-Onnerud said. “The country has made a major commitment in its five-year plan.” She said she did not know how the C70 electric would be priced, but that it would be competitive with other plug-in vehicles on the Chinese market. Fang Qing, general manager of Beijing Electric Vehicle, said in a statement: “China’s stated policy is to lead the world in the development of clean transportation and we intend to produce thousands of hybrid and electric vehicles. We are impressed with Boston-Power’s green and high-performing technology.” Last year, Johnson Controls, along with the French battery company Saft, its partner then, also said it would supply batteries to Beijing Electric Vehicle for the subcompact C30 and the M30 crossover. Rebecca K. Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Johnson Controls, wrote in an e-mail that the company and B.A.I.C. were continuing their “cooperation” but did not elaborate on the content of their collaboration. G.M., concerned that some of its technology would benefit Chinese competitors, effectively blocked the sale of Saab to a group of Chinese investors last year. This led Spyker to file a federal lawsuit in Detroit on Monday in which it demanded more than $3 billion in damages. Saab holdings not owned by G.M., including the platform for the 9-3 sedan and wagon, were acquired in June by National Electric Vehicle Sweden, or N.E.V.S., a company with Chinese, Japanese and Swedish stakeholders. N.E.V.S. has pledged to turn its portion of Saab into an E.V. manufacturer, making cars initially for the Chinese market at Saab’s base of operations in Trollhattan, Sweden. N.E.V.S. has not disclosed whether those cars would or could be sold under the Saab brand name. Powered By iWebRSS.co.cc