CAMBRIDGE, Ma. — TIAX announced it has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy to investigate strategies to improve a new low-cost cathode material that could bring hybrid electric vehicles further into the mainstream.

The $750,000 Phase II contract was awarded to TIAX through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“We’re honored to be working with the DOE on this important project,” said Kenan Sahin, president of TIAX. “Developing low-cost and efficient battery technologies is one of the first steps toward realizing the enormous economic and environmental potential of hybrid electric vehicles.”

Currently, the dominant battery technology used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) is nickel metal hydride. However research at TIAX has shown that lithium-ion based batteries may be a preferred option due to their high energy density. In order to implement lithium-ion based battery technology in HEVs, the development of lower cost and safe cathode materials capable of high power is needed. The cathode material in a lithium-ion battery helps determine battery power–the rate at which energy is extracted–and is therefore critical to performance.

This Phase II project will build on TIAX’s earlier work on one of the most promising classes of lithium-ion cathode materials for HEV applications and should result in a prototype.

For more information, visit www.tiaxllc.com