Roland Berger Strategy Consultants released its updated global lithium-ion automotive battery study, and in light of recently announced electrified vehicle launches, now expects the global li-ion battery segment to grow from $1.5 billion to nearly $10 billion by 2015 and up to $50 billion by 2020.

Recent reports about the declining cost of electric car batteries raise as many questions as they answer. I suspect that numbers for the price-per-kWh will continue to get tossed around—but the reality of what EV battery packs really cost any specific automaker will remain a tightly guarded secret.

Pike Research forecasts that automotive lithium-ion battery prices will drop by more than one-third by 2017. Pike further claims that claims that "significant reductions" in battery cost are imperative for the plug-in vehicle industry to expand to $14.6 billion in annual revenue by 2017.

According to Nikkei, Japan-based Panasonic, which has relied exclusively on domestic production of lithium-ion battery components, has decided to set up operations in China.

Announced on February 14, the Obama administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) budget recommendation is a big valentine to those working on developing batteries for electric vehicles. As we said last year, the current administration has focused the majority of its vehicle technologies research and development dollars on EVs. This is a significant reversal from the attention given to fuel cell vehicles and biofuels such as ethanol during the second Bush administration.

Ener1, parent company of Indianapolis-based electric car battery manufacturer EnerDel, today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today after defaulting on bond debt. Conservative politicians and pundits were quick to characterize EnerDel as the next Solyndra, and attack the Obama administration for supporting losing clean technologies—as they’ve done with Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive, and General Motors for support of the Chevy Volt. But if Republicans continue along this path, they’ll need to throw Indiana Republican Governor Mitch Daniels under the bus.

General Motors is apparently close to finalizing a package of modifications for the Chevrolet Volt's lithium-ion battery pack to prevent fires from being triggered after severe crashes. Sources inside GM indicated that the modifications will include laminating some of the circuitry within the Chevy Volt's battery, reinforcing the protective case that surrounds the 16-kWh unit and redesigning the pack's cooling system to prevent after-crash leaks.

What’s the biggest fear held by electric carmakers and advocates? That an isolated incident of an individual EV mysteriously catching fire would tarnish the image of all electric cars and put the brakes on the emerging market for battery-powered cars.  Unfortunately, those fears are starting to become too real―and GM's handling of the issue has only exacerbated the problem.

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson announced last week that a redesign of the T-shaped lithium ion battery pack that powers the Chevrolet Volt is under consideration to address issues raised after the NHTSA opened a formal investigation into safety-related issues involving the Volt's potential to catch fire after a side-impact crash. The automaker also said that it will buy back Volts from any owner concerned that the vehicle is a fire risk

A Chevrolet Volt that caught fire three weeks after its lithium-ion battery was damaged in a crash test conducted by the NHTSA has regulators taking an in-depth look at the safety of electric vehicles batteries, federal officials announced on Friday. But based on initial testing, regulators believe lithium-ion batteries are safe and don't pose a greater fire risk than gasoline-fueled vehicles.