Maxwell Technologies announced that it has been awarded a $7.01 million cost-shared technology development contract by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) to develop an advanced energy storage system for power-assist hybrid electric vehicles (PAHEVs). USABC will provide more than $2.8 million directly to Maxwell and approximately $3.5 million in total, including payments to technology development partners, over the course of the 24-month program.

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), the collaborative automotive technology organization for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Company. With funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, USABC's mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of electric, hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles.

Maxwell will lead a team that is tasked with the development and integration of advanced capacitor technologies to produce an energy storage system that meets performance requirements outlined in the USABC Lower Energy-Energy Storage System specification for PHEVs while managing cost to the lowest possible level. This will require technology advances in energy and power density compared with existing capacitor systems. Maxwell will be responsible for capacitor technology development, module technology and design, electrode formulation and system integration. Development partners will provide low-cost, high performance separator membrane and electrolyte specifically developed for this program.

"Higher performance, lower cost, energy storage systems are essential to meeting growing worldwide demand for more fuel-efficient, lower emission vehicles," said David Schramm, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer. "The technical foundation of the product this program aims to develop can be instrumental in strengthening the American automakers' competitive position within a global auto industry that annually produces some 60 million cars."