China Hybrid Maker Chooses A123

Wade Roush4/3/09

SAIC Motor Corporation, a state-owned carmaker in Shanghai, China, plans to use iron-phosphate-based lithium ion batteries from Watertown, MA-based A123 Systems for a new gasoline-electric hybrid car that could be available in China by 2010, according to a report yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. The Journal said A123 executives would not confirm the report, but the company has published a headline about the agreement on its website.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/wroush.