A brand new US start-up that includes two Tesla veterans is planning to problem the dominance of lithium-ion batteries with its “safer” and “dependable” sodium-ion different that it claims might halve the price of power storage for mills comparable to wind and photo voltaic.
Peak Vitality launched in the present day saying it goals to roll out its sodium-ion batteries by 2025 and open a giga-scale manufacturing plant the next yr.
Its launch follows a $10m funding spherical led by California-based Eclipse Ventures and strategic companion TDK Ventures.
“Sodium-ion is the important thing to unlocking the potential of renewable power and can lastly allow energy suppliers to completely decarbonise the grid,” claimed Peak Vitality co-founder and CEO Landon Mossburg, who beforehand labored at US electrical car and storage large Tesla and Swedish battery developer Northvolt.
“The timing couldn’t be higher to construct an organization on this house,” he mentioned, including Peak Vitality already has “momentum with key clients and companions” like Israeli photo voltaic and power storage developer Doral Vitality.
“There’s a large alternative for america to emerge as the worldwide chief in sodium-ion manufacturing and deployment, and Peak Vitality is on the forefront of that effort,” he mentioned.
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The opposite Peak Vitality co-founder is Cameron Dales, beforehand of battery producer Enovix and Lockheed Martin, who will act as its president and chief industrial officer. Greg Reichow, one other Tesla veteran who now works at Eclipse, can be a non-executive director.
Their new firm is considered one of a plethora of start-ups trying to problem the supremacy of lithium-ion batteries, which have lengthy dominated the power storage market as they’re each light-weight and intensely highly effective.
However lithium-ion batteries have additionally been the topic of concern over fires at amenities, with New York earlier this yr establishing an inquiry into battery storage security.
The lithium-ion provide chain has additionally been cornered by China, which has led to nervousness of dependency on the nation within the West, particularly given Europe’s latest traumatic expertise of going chilly turkey on Russian gasoline.
There was an rising buzz round sodium-ion batteries as a possible challenger. Though they lack the punch of lithium-ion, their output isn’t incomparable. They’re additionally a lot safer and the important thing ingredient – sodium – is considerable worldwide.
Peak Vitality is under no circumstances the primary to develop sodium-ion batteries, with a number of different battery builders having entered the market in China, the US and the UK amongst different locations vying to get forward of future competitors.
Battery builders are additionally dabbling in different chemistries together with zinc-ion and “iron-air” expertise. The broader long-duration power storage sector is replete with bulletins of utilizing every part from molten salts, superheated bricks and gravity as technique of power storage.
