Boston-Power announced that it will expand mass production of its Sonata next-generation Lithium-ion battery for notebook computers through a partnership with GP Batteries.

GP Batteries is the number one battery manufacturer in Asia outside Japan and the top consumer battery manufacturer in Greater China. It is a member of Gold Peak, a publicly traded company established in 1964 that has operations worldwide.

Boston-Power today also announced $45 million in Series C financing – among the largest recent portable power venture investments. Oak Investment Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm with a total of $8.4 billion in committed capital, led the round and was joined by existing blue-chip investors Venrock Associates, Granite Global Ventures and Gabriel Venture Partners.

Sonata will be produced in GP Batteries’ state-of-the-art facilities in Taiwan. There, it will benefit from Six Sigma manufacturing processes and a unique, real-time quality control feedback and management system that is proprietary to Boston-Power.

“GP Batteries prides itself on understanding the key trends in the global battery industry and then making strategic moves to stay at the forefront,” said GP Batteries Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Ng. “GP Batteries has in the past been a conservative player in the laptop computer market, because of the safety concerns surrounding the Lithium-ion system. With the design innovation and safeguards that are incorporated in Boston-Power’s Sonata batteries, we are now ready to apply our manufacturing expertise to re-enter the laptop computer market.”

Establishing a new benchmark in safety, cycle life and performance, Sonata is the only battery architected to last the typical three-year life of a notebook computer. Its “drop-in” design enables Sonata to be used with existing notebook computers – requiring no design changes on the part of notebook computer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Hewlett-Packard.

Sonata features enhancements in both performance and safety; its proprietary safety features include slower chemical kinetics, novel current interrupt devices, new thermal fuses, unique pressure relief vents and safer pack configuration. Sonata also gives notebook computer users the industry’s fastest recharge time – recharging to 80 percent capacity in just 30 minutes. This represents approximately half the time or less than is required by other batteries.

Sonata is the first and only rechargeable Lithium-ion notebook computer battery to earn the prestigious, internationally respected Nordic Ecolabel certification. Nordic Ecolabel acknowledges companies such as Boston-Power that are conscientious regarding the environmental impact of the production, usage and disposal of their products.

“Boston-Power identified several years ago the fundamental challenges and opportunities in notebook computer batteries – and dedicated ourselves to developing a whole-system, application-specific design approach that would establish new levels of safety, performance and environmental sustainability,” said Boston-Power Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud. “We’re excited that Sonata is entering the market and we’re pleased that we’re expanding mass production with a world-class partner like GP Batteries.”

Boston-Power also works with HYB Battery Co., Ltd., one of the leading Lithium-ion battery manufacturers in China.