Johnson Controls Inc. has partnered with Poly Plus Battery Corp and Corning Inc. to increase the range of electric vehicles.  Poly Plus has received a three year, $9 million Department of Energy grant, together with Corning will invest $3 million more to scale up production of a new battery design.  The technologies involve lithium-water, lithium-sulfur, and lithium-air designs.  Some of this technology spun out of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

JCI is providing the experience in scaling up batch production to high-volume manufacturing.  "They are really a company that's very deeply committed to manufacturing in the U.S., and so are we," said Steven Visco, Chief Executive, at Poly Plus.