by US correspondent Roger Renstrom
Lead-acid industrial battery maker EnerSys Inc has made a second investment in lithium-ion battery technology, primarily for defence and aviation applications, such as powering smart weapons and foot-soldier devices.

For industrial forklifts, EnerSys makes lead-acid batteries under the Hawker, Exide and General brands and envisions potential use of lithium-ion technology on forklifts in the future. For now, however, the lithium-ion effort is "not focused on forklifts", said Richard Zuidema, EnerSys executive vice president.

On May 18, EnerSys said it purchased the assets of Alliant Techsystems Inc's lithium primary battery business at Alliant's Power Resources Centre, in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Terms were not disclosed.

Alliant signed a five-year supply agreement with EnerSys for Alliant's requirements for products produced at the centre, which employs 41 people.

In February, EnerSys purchased a controlling interest in Modular Energy Devices Inc, of Westerly, Rhode Island, a development-stage manufacturer of large format lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Modular has 10 employees.

Reading-based EnerSys employs 7,500 people and operates 21 plants.