Johnson Controls and Saft have launched a joint venture to supply nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion batteries for current- and future-generation hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).

Johnson Controls group vice president and general manager Gregg Sherrill noted that current-generation HEVs rely on nickel-metal-hydride batteries but lithium-ion batteries are likely to become the preferred choice for HEVs within the next several years because of their advantages in size, weight and power-storage capacity.