The hype
around electric vehicles has fueled interest in energy storage technologies,
and has attracted an increasing number of competitors to an already crowded
market. Soon, it will be impossible for all of these companies to survive,
making strong partnerships a necessity. In its latest report, Lux
Research ranks technology
developers in both lithium (Li)-ion batteries and supercapacitors on the Lux
Innovation Grid to help determine which will make the strongest potential
partners as the electric vehicle market matures.

The
report, titled “Using Partnerships
to Stay Afloat in the Electric Vehicle Storm,” maps the current web of
relationships among energy storage developers, integrators, and automakers, and
analyzes supply and demand for energy storage in electric vehicles. It then
ranks companies on the Lux Innovation Grid, a proprietary framework to help
readers assess the relative performance of potential partners.

“The
electric vehicle value chain is growing so integrated that battery makers must
have strong partnerships with one or more automakers,” says Kevin See, a Lux analyst
and the report’s lead author. “These relationships are necessary to build
credibility and drive new business, as illustrated by Li-ion battery-maker LG
Chem, whose strong partnerships propelled it to the top position in our rankings.”

To assess
the partnership potential of energy storage developers targeting the electric
vehicle market, Lux Research assigned scores for each company’s technical
value, business execution, and maturity. Based on these scores, analysts
plotted each company’s relative potential on the Lux Innovation Grid, which
comprises four quadrants: dominant, high-potential, long-shot, and undistinguished.
Among the report’s highlights:

• LG Chem Power leads the Li-ion
  battery-maker pack.
  LG Chemical subsidiary LG Chem Power sits atop the grid’s dominant quadrant,
  with strong technical value, due to its high-energy
  lithium-manganese-spinel-based cells and strong cycle life—at costs that are
  among the most competitive in the market. Its multitude of supply partnerships
  with the likes of GM, Eaton, and Ford, however, are what justify the company’s
  strong business execution score.
• A123 and Ener1 garner more
  headlines than momentum. Media darlings A123 and Ener1 land well out of the dominant quadrant
  of the Lux Innovation Grid. Motivated by the potential for major automotive
  supply deals, both were originally building significant manufacturing capacity.
  But despite a few minor partnerships, neither has scored a major deal that will
  drive significant revenue.
• Among supercapacitor suppliers,
  Maxwell stands alone.
  Maxwell leads the dominant quadrant of the Lux Innovation Grid for
  supercapacitors. Its high score for technical value derives from cost competitiveness
  and strong device performance, while its high business execution score stems
  from multiple partnerships—among them, supply deals for applications including
  hybrid buses and micro-hybrids, and more recently in starter modules for
  commercial diesel vehicles.

Lux Research, www.luxresearchinc.com