EnerDel has caught the interest of fancy electric carmaker Fisker Automotive. The two have signed a letter of intent for EnerDel to supply batteries to the startup car company, which plans to launch its first model in June next year.

The letter of intent gives EnerDel a chance to show that its batteries are a good fit for Fisker's cars. If the batteries test well, then EnerDel could get a long-term contract.

The deal is a good scoop for EnerDel compared with the deal it has with Norway-based Think. Think has struggled to roll out and sell its electric cars. Think temporary shut down production last winter and faced bankruptcy. EnerDel's parent company, Ener1, is an investor. Ener1 and other Think investors pumped $5.7 million into Think to keep it alive.

Think is now applying for federal loans to open up a factory and tech center in the United States.

Irvine, Calif.-based Fisker is rolling out the Karma, a souped-up plug-in hybrid electric vehicle priced at $87,900. Fisker recently raised $85 million from Eco-Drive Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to fund its manufacturing operations.

Fisker is contracting with Finland-based Valmet Automotive, which also makes Porsche Boxster and Porsche Cayman, to assemble the Karma. Last month, Fisker's spokesman Russell Datz said the company the first Karma would roll off the assembly line in late 2009. Production would begin initially with about 7,500 cars per year, and increase to 15,000 per year in 2011, Datz said.

EnerDel also is holding a ceremony to inaugurate a lithium-ion battery production line in Indiana. The company calls the manufacturing facility the first commercial-scale line in the country for making lithium-ion batteries for cars.