The energizer bunny is nowhere to be found inside the suburban Milwaukee research lab run by Johnson Controls. But all around the facility, behind signs marked DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE, blue-coated workers are torturing a new generation of batteries, testing whether they, like the fuzzy commercial icon, can keep going ... and going. In one building, this work is done inside hulking Thermotron machines, which look like extras from the movie "Monsters, Inc."Nesting inside are lithium-ion batteries being repeatedly cooled to 40 below zero, heated to 185 above and run continuously to mimic 150,000 miles of driving in an electric car. Today most of this busi-ness's revenue comes from old-fashioned car batteries. But here in the research lab, there's an urgent focus on perfecting these next-generation models. "Up until now, this has been a science project," says Alex Molinaroli, the unit's president. "What's changed is, this is moving to a much larger strategic issue for our industry, for our country and for the planet."
展开▼
