New battery expected to cut EV costs

A reinvented lithium-ion battery expected to cut EV costs could be ready in 2020.

About US$21.8 million has been raised by Massachusetts company 24M for a commercial factory to develop semisolid, high energy density li-ion cells with an industrial partner in 2019 for delivery the next year.

Started by a pair of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists in 2010, nearby 24M introduced the semisolid battery design in 2015 and has its own semi-automated pilot facility to advance cell design and production readiness.

The company says it’s now ready to globally scale its unique, capital-efficient, low-cost approach to advanced lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

The “SemiSolid” process uses electrolyte as the processing solvent, eliminating capital and energy intensive steps like drying, solvent recovery, calendaring and electrolyte filling, 24M says. It “leverages the process via differentiated cell designs, eliminating the need for significant inactive material (copper, aluminium and separator), resulting in both a structural bill of materials advantage and a lower cost to manufacture”.

The batteries built in the company’s pilot lab have leapfrogged those on the market today in terms of energy density, 24M chief executive officer and president Rick Feldt says, MIT Technology Review reports.

Higher energy density means batteries cost less, weigh less, and last longer, promising EVs without the price shock or range anxiety.

Two Japanese companies led the latest “Series D” funding round; ceramics and electronics giant Kyocera Group and textiles and trading business Itochu.

“Demand for lithium-ion batteries is escalating rapidly due to increasing interest in electric vehicles and renewable energy, and the differentiated 24M manufacturing process and radical approach to cell design offers a powerful solution to cost-effectively respond to this need with a superior product,” Itochu industrial chemicals general manager Koji Hasegawa says.

The initial target market for the batteries is EVs, but the company has also highlighted the potential for its technology to improve grid energy storage.