Lithium-Ion Battery Developers Receive Porsche Award

The “Professor Ferdinand Porsche Award” has been awarded every two years since 1976 by the Technical University of Vienna and is worth 50,000 euros. This year, it was awarded to the developers of the lithium-ion battery for automotive purposes, Dipl. Eng. Michael Keller from Temic Automotive Electric Motors GmbH and Prof. Herbert Kohler from Daimler AG.

"Because this time it is about nothing less than the traditional centerpiece of the automobile: the combustion engine. And in this field, this year's award winners have made a groundbreaking contribution. That is why they have justifiably received this award," Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, Chairman of the Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, said in his award speech.

The jury decided to award the two automotive engineers for the first application of the lithium-ion battery in volume production of hybrid cars, launched with series production of the Mercedes-Benz S 400 HYBRID.

"The S 400 HYBRID with its lithium-ion battery is an important milestone for us. We are delighted that our commitment and know-how have been recognized through the award of this prestigious prize by Vienna Technical University," said Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler.

"We regard this valuable award not merely as expressing appreciation for our development work but as further motivation for us to press on with the development and production of state-of-the-art drive technologies so that significant and sustainable reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be achieved in future vehicles,” Michael Keller added.

The “Professor Ferdinand Porsche Award” was endowed in 1976 by Louise Piëch, the daughter of Professor Ferdinand Porsche. Half of the award money is given by Porsche Holding, Salzburg, and the other half by Porsche AG, Stuttgart. Daimler will use the prize money to build a photovoltaic system for its children's day care center.