Mar 13 2008
VIASPACE Inc., announced today that it has entered into the rechargeable battery marketplace through a distribution agreement with Yoku Energy Co. Ltd, a major manufacturer of rechargeable lithium polymer batteries. Under the agreement, VIASPACE will market and distribute Yoku's entire battery product line in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Yoku of Hong Kong, with a factory in Zhangzhou, is one of the largest manufacturers of Li Polymer batteries in China with single battery cell capacity ranges from 50mAh to 55,000mAh. The products are UL and CE approved, and are compliant with RoHS, the European environmental standard. Yoku batteries are widely used in electronic products, such as GPS navigators, portable DVD players, medical products, mobile phones, bluetooth devices, MP3/MP4 players, PDAs, notebook computers, and remote-controlled planes. New large emerging battery markets include power tools, power driven toys, battery operated bicycles and electric and hybrid vehicles. Yoku is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificated. Yoku has more than 2000 employees and 100,000 square meters of manufacturing facilities. Yoku's daily production capacity is 300,000 Li polymer cells.
VIASPACE CEO Carl Kukkonen stated, "VIASPACE is pleased to be partnered with Yoku. Their battery product line complements our current VIASENSOR products including the BA-1000 Battery Electrode Health Analyzer. Our VIASPACE Energy business unit focuses on alternative energy and portable power solutions. We have fuel cell testing products and fuel cartridges for future portable electronic devices that are expected to be powered by fuel cells. Fuel cells will replace batteries in many applications and this alone represents a great business opportunity. However batteries will continue to be used in many products and will be hybridized with fuel cells for some products and hybridized with gasoline engines for automotive applications. Hybrid and electric vehicles and electric bicycles represent a huge growth area in batteries. We hope to introduce Yoku batteries into these and other markets. Yoku batteries are high quality, safe and affordable."
Lithium polymer batteries are a form of lithium ion batteries that afford both enhanced safety and flexibility in shape. Enhanced safety is especially valuable in light of recent battery recalls. Flexible sizing allows designers to produce attractive products while using space efficiently.