Lyten Raises $200 Million In Fairness Financing Spherical

Lyten, a expertise firm based mostly in San Jose, CA, lately introduced elevating $200 million in fairness financing from a number of traders, together with Prime Movers Lab, Honeywell, FedEx, and others. It was based in 2015 and has raised a complete of $410 million. The corporate develops superior expertise, and is probably most well-known for being a pioneer in 3D graphene supermaterials. Graphene has been touted as a fabric that’s fairly robust, light-weight and doubtlessly of better abundance than some supplies presently utilized in electrical car and vitality storage batteries. It additionally would possibly assist future batteries retailer extra electrical energy, value much less, and weigh much less, thus enhancing electrical car ranges. Batteries with chemistries apart from solely lithium-ion may additionally be sooner to cost.

Keith Norman, Lyten’s Chief Sustainability Officer, answered some questions for CleanTechnica.

What are the important thing advantages of utilizing lithium-sulfur batteries somewhat than the battery chemistries already in use?

Li-Ion has been the incumbent chemistry to make EVs and vitality storage doable, however that chemistry has limitations that put some actual boundaries in place if we need to obtain mass scale electrification throughout the planet. These boundaries fall into the classes of value, vitality density, heavy reliance on mined minerals, and security.  

Lithium-Sulfur battery chemistry has been often known as an alternative choice to lithium-ion for many years as a result of sulfur permits you to retailer extra vitality than lithium-ion. In different phrases, for a similar weight, a sulfur-based battery can take you a lot additional. The problem with lithium-sulfur has been that sulfur cells have historically displayed a low cycle life, in different phrases, the battery has a restricted variety of occasions it may be recharged. 

That is the place our progressive supplies expertise, Lyten 3D Graphene, is available in.  We’re tuning the fabric to ship two capabilities for batteries. First, we’re designing the fabric to behave like a scaffolding for the sulfur, basically holding the sulfur atoms in place contained in the battery in order that they don’t transfer freely, an impact referred to as polysulfide shuttling. Second, the Lyten 3D Graphene is electrically conductive, serving to the vitality transfer out and in of the sulfur and inside the cathode extra effectively. With these enhancements, we’re producing Lithium-Sulfur batteries from our pilot line at the moment in San Jose, CA.

The implications are vital. We at the moment are concentrating on a battery that has better than twice the vitality density of lithium-ion and might be greater than 40% lighter weight. Moreover, we are able to take away most of the mined minerals present in lithium-ion.  Lithium-Sulfur won’t require nickel, cobalt, manganese, or graphite, all closely mined minerals briefly provide and with their very own environmental and humanitarian influence. This dramatically simplifies the supplies required and will finally permit the lithium-sulfur battery to be fully sourced and manufactured domestically within the US and Europe. Including all this collectively means a battery that can have 60% decrease carbon footprint to fabricate in comparison with lithium-ion at the moment and a transparent pathway to a fair decrease footprint sooner or later.

We describe Lithium-Sulfur because the “electrify all the pieces” battery, as it would break by means of worth and weight boundaries, enabling electrification to be much more viable for each industries the place weight issues (aviation, aerospace, trucking, and so on) and mass market adoption the place worth is a barrier. There are lots of new chemistries in growth, however the majority of these chemistries current decrease vitality density than lithium-ion. They have an inclination to resolve points like supplies, provide chain, and value, however not increased vitality density required for mobility purposes. The chemistry most generally mentioned for increased vitality density are solid-state batteries, which will definitely have their place within the worth chain sooner or later.

Lithium-Sulfur benefits versus strong state are that (1) Lithium-Sulfur are being designed to obtain increased vitality densities, so they’re lighter weight, (2) Stable State remains to be extremely depending on minerals like nickel and have a posh provide chain, and (3) we imagine Lithium-Sulfur will extra simply drop into current lithium-ion manufacturing strains with solely minor modifications. 

What number of of those batteries will Lyten produce annually?

Right this moment, we’re producing Lithium-Ion batteries from our automated pilot line that opened in San Jose, CA in June 2023. This can be a small line designed to (1) ship industrial batteries to preliminary early adopting prospects, which we plan to do by early 2024. (2) ship cells for testing by auto OEMs as we work in the direction of the efficiency required for EV purposes, and (3) take a look at tools design to safe ordering for the bigger scale battery manufacturing services we’re actively progressing. This pilot line has a capability of roughly 200,000 cells per 12 months.  

We plan to interrupt floor on scaled up Lithium-Sulfur manufacturing capability in 2024. Our technique is to construct a “house manufacturing facility” that’s roughly 5 GW in capability to meet demand from early adopting purposes in areas like satellites, drones, aviation, and final mile transport, as nicely as feed smaller scale EV and trucking purposes. Then, by the 2nd half of the last decade we plan to ramp up a bigger scale gigafactory to assist broader EV purposes. We’ve been seeing robust demand alerts which will require us to search for methods to additional speed up lithium-sulfur battery supply.  

 What are their purposes, and who’re Lyten’s prospects for them?

We imagine Lithium-Sulfur can apply throughout the vitality cupboard space, and is de facto differentiating the place weight and security issues. Our plan is to broaden as we proceed to progress the chemistry ahead and as we broaden manufacturing capability.  Early adopting prospects, the place our efficiency already delivers on their largest ache factors, are in purposes the place battery weight isn’t just vital, however is prime to the appliance being profitable. This consists of purposes like satellites, drones, eVTOLs, and different aerospace associated purposes, the place we plan to ship industrial cells in early 2024. As we proceed to boost the lithium-sulfur battery efficiency and scale manufacturing, we will broaden additional into mobility, with particular alternatives within the motion of products, particularly in final mile supply purposes. We additionally anticipate to ship batteries into bespoke automotive purposes earlier than increasing into full EV manufacturing strains and finally stationary storage purposes.  

Our focus is squarely on figuring out prospects with acute ache factors as our battery efficiency hits thresholds to have the ability to deal with their ache level. We’re seeing very strong demand throughout a variety of sectors. We aren’t in a position to share particular prospects right now. 

Why is it higher to have EV and vitality storage batteries with no NMC (Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt) or Graphite?

Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, and Graphite have been crucial minerals, together with Lithium, to allow excessive sufficient vitality density batteries to fulfill EV and broad scale vitality storage wants. That is problematic throughout a handful of fronts. First, these minerals are closely mined and far of the provision and mining capabilities sit in areas with far much less stringent environmental and moral office requirements.  

Moreover, if we glance throughout the vary of demand forecasts for batteries, the ensuing provide necessities for NMC and Graphite are many multiples of what we’re mining at the moment. This means transferring from a fossil gas reliance to reliance on a small handful of nations that provide many of the world’s processed minerals for the battery trade. Bringing new mines on-line has historically been on the dimensions of a decade, not a 12 months or two, so the worth and provide chain threat for these core minerals is actual and has a threat of slowing down EV adoption.

By far and away, China controls the present battery provide chain for NMC batteries and in addition LFP chemistry, which is rising as a decrease value, but in addition decrease vitality density various for EV purposes. China invested early and closely in securing long run useful resource provides and the required Mental property to cheaply course of the minerals crucial and produce NMC batteries. This single level of reliance creates geopolitical threat and worth dangers proper on the time we must be rising exponentially. From a provide chain threat standpoint, a price standpoint, and an total carbon footprint standpoint, figuring out and scaling options to NMC batteries is of crucial significance. LFP battery chemistry is one avenue being pursued, however the decrease vitality density means they’ve a extra restricted set of potential use circumstances. Each personal and public sector have to be investing now, as bringing new chemistries on-line and at scale may be very capital intensive and the timelines are lengthy.   

 What’s Lyten 3D Graphene™, and what are its benefits?

So let’s begin with a contact of historical past. Graphene was found in 2004 and the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in 2010 for its discovery due to the dimensions of the potential influence of an ultra-high performing materials. Graphene is usually described as ultra-high energy, extremely light-weight, and extremely conductive, amongst a number of different superlatives. Since that point, scaling graphene growth from the lab into industrial purposes has been difficult for 3 major causes. (1) The manufacturing value of graphene is excessive. (2) By definition, graphene is a two-dimensional planar sheet of bonded carbon atoms. Give it some thought like a sheet of paper.

The one method to chemically work together with the graphene is alongside the sides of that sheet, so the materials doesn’t work together or combine nicely with different parts or supplies. (3) The 2D graphene sheet can’t be simply custom-made or tuned to ship the proper properties for a specific software. Primarily, it’s a must to design your software across the capabilities of 2D graphene, typically coming within the type of carbon nanotubes (i.e. roll your sheet of paper right into a tube).

Lyten 3D Graphene addresses these boundaries. Think about taking that sheet of paper and crumpling it up and twisting it. That’s 3D Graphene. As a substitute of solely having the ability to bond with the fabric on the sides, now you can bond at each fold and crease, rising its means to work together with different parts on the periodic desk by orders of magnitude. This implies you’ll be able to put 3D Graphene into many purposes to extend energy, cut back weight, improve conductivity, and achieve many extra capabilities. Second, 3D Graphene may be crumpled and twisted in an infinite variety of methods, which implies we are able to tune the construction to exhibit the properties wanted for an software. Now, we are able to design the 3D Graphene materials to suit the wants of the Utility.

The opposite distinctive attribute of 3D Graphene is the manufacturing course of. We use methane, a greenhouse fuel, and completely sequester the carbon within the type of 3D graphene, stopping the methane or CO2 from getting into the environment. That is basically a carbon seize course of that additionally produces hydrogen as a bi-product. As we attain scale, we goal for the 3D Graphene manufacturing course of to be carbon destructive, then we use the materials to decarbonize the very best emitting sectors on the planet, by means of purposes like lithium-sulfur batteries, lightweighted composites, subsequent technology sensors and extra decarbonizing purposes to return as we scale.

What is going to your light-weight composites be used for, or are they already in use?

Batteries are actually simply one among an enormous variety of purposes that may be improved with 3D Graphene. As we scale our manufacturing of the fabric, we have to keep very targeted on which purposes we go after first. Our mantra is “Internet Zero With out Compromise.” We need to allow the very best CO2 emitting sectors on the planet to realize web zero with out compromising on efficiency, profitability, or buyer expertise. We need to construct purposes using 3D Graphene that (1) ship a disruptive efficiency influence relative to current applied sciences, (2) ship a big decarbonization influence for the very best emitting sectors of the economic system, and (3) #1 and #2 have to be delivered profitably for our prospects. In different phrases, the purposes should make monetary sense as that’s how we are able to actually scale the decarbonization impacts. In quick: higher and cleaner merchandise for a greater and cleaner setting. You may see how the lithium-sulfur battery software hits on all three of those standards, which is why it’s one among our first purposes to roll out.

Based mostly on these standards, we’re utilizing 3D Graphene to create ultra-lightweight composites, actually leaning into the excessive energy, light-weight traits of the fabric. Composites make up an enormous portion of our infrastructure and Lyten has confirmed our means to cut back the quantity of plastics required and weight by upwards of fifty%, relying on the appliance. To begin, we’re focusing our composites work on the mobility, aviation, and provide chain sectors. We’re presently working with a buyer that manufactures engineered circumstances made from polyethylene to be used in industries like protection, provide chain, and building. We’ve achieved a 30% weight and supplies discount and are working in the direction of 50%, eliminating hydrocarbon use and delivering a lighter weight product bringing vitality effectivity because it strikes world wide.

We’re additionally working with our traders to establish methods to light-weight plane, drones, and automobiles with our 3D Graphene enhanced composite methods. In every case, the prevailing supplies efficiency serves as a barrier to additional lightweighting and and electrification. Composites make up the spine of a lot of our infrastructure and finally, we see an alternative to light-weight a variety of purposes with out sacrificing energy.

Who might be your prospects for them?

Every of our strategic traders, together with Stellantis, FedEx, Honeywell, Walbridge Albright, and the protection sector made their funding as a result of they see the chance for Lyten’s purposes to have an actual influence on their industries and in addition assist their web zero efforts whereas nonetheless delivering a high-performance product. We’re working with our traders as we’re creating our composite purposes (and our different purposes as nicely) to assist guarantee we ship merchandise that meet precisely what that trade wants. We’re working in the direction of bringing the primary composites merchandise to market by early 2024 and dealing to announce additional purposes utilizing 3D Graphene within the close to future.