Texaco to acquire General Motors' share of GM Ovonic Battery joint venture

Texaco and General Motors today announced Texaco's intent to acquire GM's share of a joint venture that has developed an advanced battery technology for the automotive market.

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, Texaco will acquire GM's 60 percent share of an existing joint venture with Energy Conversion Devices - ECD - a firm in which Texaco already holds a 20 percent interest. GM and Ovonic Battery Company, a subsidiary of ECD, formed the joint venture, GM Ovonic, in 1994 to manufacture and commercialize high-efficiency, nickel metal hydride automobile batteries. The joint venture, which will be re-named Texaco Ovonic, plans to fully commercialize and expand its applications to a broad range of energy markets.

"ECD and Ovonic developed breakthrough advanced NiMH battery technology and General Motors has brought it to the production stage," said Texaco Senior Vice President William M. Wicker. "With the demand for all-electric and hybrid vehicles projected to grow significantly over the next few years, the time is right to extend this technology to the entire automotive market and take it to the next level of commercial development.

"This technology is already being used as a source of power in items such as cellular telephones and personal computers and we believe it holds the potential to meet a wide range of non-automotive uses. As a company committed to developing a significant presence in the energy technology field, we are excited to be part of this joint venture."

For more information, see discount car batteries.

Author Notes:

Adalie Schnider contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-batteries.com. A great resource for batteries of all kinds including camcorder, laptop, cell phone and more.

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Texaco to acquire General Motors' share of GM Ovonic Battery joint venture