A123 Congratulates Porsche on Le Mans Win

June 18, 2015 | By Business Wire News

LIVONIA, Mich.

A123 Systems LLC, a developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries and systems, celebrates Porsche’s historic win at the 83rd running of that 24 Hours of Le Mans this past weekend. Since Porsche re-entered the top LMP1 class of endurance car racing in 2014, A123 Systems has been its technology partner for energy storage. This year’s Porsche 919 Hybrid was engineered to take advantage of the maximum hybrid functionality allowed by the FIA’s World Endurance Championship regulations and it paid off with Porsche’s three cars taking first, second and fifth place in the world’s most challenging endurance race of the year.

This was Porsche’s 17th overall victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe and since 1923, no other manufacturer has won Le Mans more times. Over the grueling 24 hours of racing, the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid completed 395 laps and more than 3,300 miles, which was only one lap short of the longest distance achieved at Le Mans in the history of the event. During the race, the hybrid system powered by A123’s custom engineered batteries performed flawlessly in all three cars and each system managed more than 850 kWh of energy over the course of the race, an amount that is roughly equal to the energy a typical American household uses in a month. The Porsche 919 Hybrid is the most fuel efficient car that has ever won the Le Mans race.

While A123 Systems proud of its contributions to Porsche’s outstanding motorsports achievements, the company is also actively transferring technology from the track to the road. Innovations developed in pursuit of Porsche’s technical requirements are steadily driving improvement in power capability that A123 is able to offer to vehicle manufacturers all over the world.

About A123

A123 Systems is a global leader in providing complete energy storage solutions through advanced battery cells and systems for transportation and commercial applications, offering performance, reliability, and cost savings from concept through commercialization.