Automotive News - Traverse City - August 8, 2019 - 14

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CAR MBS DAILY

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019

Battery behemoth: 'Our race is far from run'
Newly named Clarios sees opportunities
in two emerging lead-acid technologies
Published May 20, 2019,
in Automotive News

Lindsay Chappell
lchappell@crain.com

he world's biggest vehicle
battery supplier believes it
has more growing to do, even
as the industry shifts from the
combustion engines that those batteries start.
Clarios, known until this month as
Johnson Controls Power Solutions,
sees opportunity in advanced
lead-acid batteries.

"We've had quite a run so far," said
Joe Walicki, president of the newly
named company, speaking to reporters this month shortly after publicly
traded Canadian investment house
Brookfield Business Partners closed
on its $13 billion acquisition of the
Johnson Controls spinoff.
The Clarios name appeared overnight on office building signs and elevators at its suburban Milwaukee
headquarters, where it still shares an
employee cafeteria and nurses station with Johnson Controls Inc. But
Brookfield will now take Clarios,

with its $8 billion in global original
equipment and aftermarket battery
sales, on a growth plan beyond its
current segment-leading size.
"We're the world's largest battery
maker by a wide margin, compared
to any of our competitors," Walicki
says. "But we feel that our race is far
from run."
Clarios knows electrification is
poised to rewrite vehicle powertrains over the coming decade. But
the supplier is not talking about
plunging into EV battery modules
with the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, LG Chem and A123 Systems. Instead, Walicki says Clarios' strategy
is to stick to its lead-acid guns.
The company is betting on growing

Clarios sticks with lead-acid batteries as the industry shifts to electrification.

demand for two emerging technologies in lead-acid. One is known as
absorbent glass mat, a hardier bat-

DRIVING EVERY PHASE OF

PERFORMANCE

tery to support vehicles with stopstart systems. The other is known as
an enhanced flooded battery, built
for an extended life, with a larger
number of charging cycles.
"We make one in three batteries
globally today," Walicki says. "But as
you move toward these advanced
batteries, that's where the demand is
going up significantly. We make one
in two - and growing. That's what
the future is going to demand.
"Today we have more capacity
than all of our competitors in the
world combined to produce these
advanced batteries," he says.

Lead-acid demand
Walicki believes Clarios will enjoy a
strong market tailwind. Globally, an
estimated 1.4 billion vehicles are on
the road today, including commercial trucks. Almost all of them use
lead-acid batteries. By 2030, the
vehicle population is forecast to
reach 2 billion,
with fewer than
10 percent being
battery-electric, he
says.
That
vehicle Walicki: Sees
population in- strong tailwind
crease represents
an expansion in demand for lead-acid batteries, he says. And as it happens, the industry will move deeper
into the advanced lead-acid products
that Clarios is counting on, which offer the supplier a higher revenue return and a higher profit margin.

Lithium ion

HOW IT LOOKS

HOW IT MOVES

HOW IT FEELS

LUBRIZOL DRIVES IT ALL
Lubrizol enhances vehicle performance from the exterior to the interior to the powertrain.
We provide the world's top manufacturers with access to a full range of systematic solutions,
simplifying the process of bringing quality products to market quickly and efficiently.

PERFECTING THE SCIENCE OF PERFORMANCE ™

PROUD SPONSOR OF THE CAR 2019 MANAGEMENT BRIEFING SEMINARS
053688lubBrandPrint_7_8125x10_NoBleed_wSponsor.indd 1

7/15/19 8:57 AM

At the same time, a new business
segment beckons. Late last year,
then-JCI entered into a partnership
with Toshiba to begin manufacturing lithium ion batteries for EVs.
The partnership is using Clarios'
Meadowbrook lithium ion plant in
Holland, Mich., to produce batteries
for customers in various world markets. Once that plant is up and running, Clarios expects to export its
products to China, Walicki says.
The partnership will produce a dualvolt battery solution that pairs a large
absorbent glass mat battery with a
12-volt lithium ion battery. The lithium
ion part of the system will power vehicle functions but not start the vehicle.
Walicki believes there will be many
more such dual-volt systems in the
coming years, and Clarios will continue to invest in more partnerships, as
well as in additional emerging battery
chemistries other than lithium ion.
But lead-acid is the big bet for the
company, he emphasizes.
"We really feel like we need to stay
centered now and not lose our focus,"
Walicki says, "and be good at what
the world wants us to be good at." a

http://why.lubrizol.com

Automotive News - Traverse City - August 8, 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - Traverse City - August 8, 2019