February 28, 2019: US Battery Manufacturing, the California-based flooded lead-acid and AGM battery maker, has reshuffled many of its senior staff in its three US plants, the company announced on February 14.
In its main headquarters in Corona, California, Don Wallace (pictured) has been appointed chief operating officer, Michael Coad is now vice president of sales and marketing, Zack Cox is vice president of operations and David Mason has been made vice president of manufacturing.
In Georgia the company has two plants: at the Augusta one Ryan Doss is now vice president of manufacturing, and in Evans, Thomas Hendrickson has been appointed vice president of manufacturing.
“The restructuring of our corporate leadership team has been designed to assist US Battery in reaching its global growth initiatives as well as our long-term commitment to both our customers and our employees,” said president and CEO Terry Agrelius.
The 90-year-old firm makes batteries for a range of applications, including automotive, aerial work platforms, floor machines, marine/RVs, renewable energy back-up and golf cars and utility vehicles.
With golf cars and utility vehicles, the company’s senior VP of engineering, Fred Wehmeyer, said lead-acid batteries were by far the most sensible choice.
“The facts are that lithium batteries require a new charger and a battery monitoring system, which is not required for lead-acid batteries,” he said.
“With operational costs being a major concern for anyone with a fleet of electric powered vehicles, it’s important to point out that there is the initial cost of a lithium iron phosphate pack, plus the required additional equipment necessary to operate it.
“A single LiFePO4 cell has a nominal voltage of 3.2 volts, thus requiring 15 cells in series for a 48-volt pack. The average retail price of one 100 Ahr cell is $155, putting the pack cost at $2,325. A compatible BMS and charger costs $290 and $1,075 respectively.
“Altogether, a conversion would cost $3,690 and will provide a reported 2,000 cycles at a lower energy content of 4,800 watt hours versus 7,200 watt hours for a comparable flooded lead-acid battery pack.
“You can see that for a 48-volt pack, you can buy four 12-volt lead-acid batteries for about $640 retail. That will get you around 150 Ahr and 750 or more cycles with no additional equipment needed. Overall, the flooded lead-acid battery pack will deliver more energy per cycle at a lower cost per kilowatt hour on each cycle by a factor of more than 3:1.”
Wehmeyer also put the case for lead with its recyclability compared with lithium.
“The recycling infrastructure of lead-acid batteries is a closed loop process that more than pays for itself, while recycled lithium rarely goes back into new batteries due to the high cost of recycling,” he said.
US Battery Manufacturing’s batteries are distributed all over the world.
