Texas-Primarily based Stable-State EV Battery Startup Lays Out Oil-Killing Plans

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There goes Texas, once more. The enduring US oil- and gas-producing state has turn into host to a rising gusher of unpolluted tech companies, all looking for to push oil and fuel out of the image. The most recent one to cross the CleanTechnica radar is Solidion Know-how, which is showcasing a brand new solid-state EV battery platform and a inexperienced graphite anode sourced from biomass.

The New “BEEP” Stable-State EV Battery

Solidion kindly shared an embargoed press launch and a few extra particulars with CleanTechnica, through which it famous two intertwined challenges that lie between a solid-state EV battery and the open street: area and time.

By area they imply that area is a beneficial commodity in an electrical automobile, however a traditional lithium-ion EV battery requires tons of of housings and connectors, including bulk. These connectors additionally add to the time and expense of producing.

Solidion describes its solid-state EV battery structure as a strategy of “layering and connecting bipolar electrodes and strong electrolyte layers in collection and in parallel.” The result’s a brand new platform known as BEEP, brief for bipolar electrode-to-pack.

“The brand new BEEP platform expertise addresses the design points and the difficulties in manufacturing, whereas concurrently lowering battery weight, quantity, and prices,” Solidion defined by e mail.

“That is as a result of single casing and small variety of connectors required within the BEEP expertise battery pack design, which replaces tons of of housings and connectors in at the moment’s batteries,” they added.

The place Did Solidion Come From?

Changing individually housed EV battery cells with a single built-in module is a radical departure from typical expertise. Solidioin is new to CleanTechnica, so now we have some catching as much as do.

Solidion is a department of the Ohio-based power storage expertise agency World Graphene Group, which has additionally been flying below our radar. However, G3 was acknowledged by the knowledge companies agency LexisNexis in 2022 as a prime 100 world expertise innovator alongside Samsung SDI, LG Chem, and CATL. All three are acquainted faces on the pages of CleanTechnica, so G3 is in good firm.

Samsung is thought for pairing its EV battery experience with Stellantis to construct gigafactories within the US. LG Chem has attached with Common Motors, and CATL is, nicely, CATL.

When G3 introduced its High 100 recognition, the corporate famous that it has greater than 700 issued patents and purposes below its belt around the globe. G3 listed “battery expertise, graphene-based dispersions and composites, thermal movies, clear conductive movies, distinctive graphene-enhanced merchandise, and strategies for producing graphene merchandise” in its portfolio, together with “graphene/silicon anode expertise for Li-ion batteries, graphene-protected lithium steel anodes for lithium steel batteries, and non- flammable electrolytes for each varieties of batteries, together with many different beneficial battery applied sciences.”

A Shortcut To The Stable-State EV Battery Of The Future

Again in 2022, G3 co-founder and Chief Know-how Officer Dr. Aruna Zhamu famous that the corporate is able to scale up manufacturing and speed up the pathway to commercialization, with a concentrate on the solid-state EV battery of the longer term.

“With its process-friendly FireShield(TM) electrolyte expertise, G3 will additional solidify its management place in changing the whole lithium battery business right into a quasi-solid and solid-state standing,” he mentioned.

That’s the place Solidion is available in. Final 12 months the G3 subsidiary Honeycomb Battery introduced plans to hook up with Texas-based SPAC (particular objective acquisition firm) Nubia Model Worldwide with the purpose of bringing its new EV battery supplies to market.

Honeycomb is one more unfamiliar identify to CleanTechnica, however in keeping with its CEO Dr. Bor Jang the corporate is “ranked among the many greatest in silicon-anode IP and among the many world leaders in solid-state battery IP.”

“…we plan to rapidly transfer ahead with its full-scale commercialization,” he added in a press assertion dated February 16, 2023. “Our objective is to allow EVs to drive farther, cost quicker, function safer, and price much less.”

The mixture of the 2 firms closed on February 2 of this 12 months because the newly hatched Solidion Know-how, with Dr. Jang on board as Government Chairman.

With Honeycomb’s expertise in hand, Solidion lists “silicon-rich all-solid-state lithium-ion cells (Gen 1), anodeless lithium steel cells (Gen 2), and lithium-sulfur cells (Gen 3)” because the collection of three new applied sciences it plans to introduce alongside two sorts of strong electrolytes. One consists of a polymer materials and the opposite composed of a polymer/inorganic composite.

Solidion describes each electrolytes as “process-friendly,” by which they imply suitable with present fabrication strategies. “Solidion’s solid-state batteries may be manufactured at scale utilizing present lithium-ion cell manufacturing amenities,” they clarify.

What Is This Inexperienced Graphite Of Which You Communicate?

Jang has additionally taken be aware of Solidion’s “cost-effective course of for mass-manufacturing inexperienced graphite anode supplies from sustainable biomass sources.” Within the February 2 announcement, Solidion famous that it is able to develop manufacturing of its superior anode supplies.

Sustainable replacements for the graphite utilized in an EV battery have been rising across the globe. Solidion signifies that North America is its biomass supply, so forest merchandise can be one good guess.

On February 15, the corporate introduced plans for a brand new graphite facility someplace within the US Southeast, a area that’s recognized for its forest merchandise industries. The preliminary purpose is a capability of 10,000 metric tons per 12 months, scaling as much as about 180,000 metric tons per 12 months in the USA with an preliminary capability of 10,000 metric tons per 12 months by 2030.

Solidion acknowledged that the ability will manufacture graphite anode supplies “primarily” from biomass, indicating that different supplies are in play. CleanTechnica is reaching out to Solidion for extra particulars, so keep tuned for extra on that.

The Stable-State EV Battery Of The Future Is Coming

Solidion joins a rising variety of companies chasing solid-state EV battery expertise. Some business observers anticipate {that a} true all-solid-state EV battery is not going to be extensively accessible till 2035 or so, however the timeline is way shorter for semi-solid expertise and different variations on the solid-state theme.

Among the many hookups we’ve been watching are the Swedish EV maker Polestar and the Israeli fast-charging battery innovator StoreDot. The US solid-state battery startup Quantumscape has additionally been making some strikes of late.

Nissan is one other automaker anticipating that some type of solid-state expertise will present up in its electrical autos sooner somewhat than later. The corporate has fashioned a solid-state EV battery collaboration with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, so keep tuned for extra on that.

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Picture (screenshot): The Texas-based EV battery innovator Solidion plans on accelerating the automobile electrification motion with new supplies and a radical new battery structure (courtesy of Solidion Know-how).