LG Chem invests in Enevate; silicon-dominant Li-ion battery technology
24 October 2018
Enevate Corporation, developer of a silicon-dominant composite anode material and high energy density batteries (earlier post), announced that LG Chem has participated in Enevate’s recent funding.
Introduced in November 2017, Enevate’s HD-Energy Technology for EVs enables Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells with up to 50% higher capacity than conventional graphite cells. The cells can be charged to 75% capacity in five minutes. They can also safely charge and discharge down to -40°C and capture more energy during regenerative braking, extending their range in cold climates.
Enevate’s HD-Energy Technology is a self-standing, silicon-dominant composite anode with more than 70% silicon. The conductive, silicon-dominant composite film anode is essentially 100% active material that can store lithium and has a high electrical conductivity.
This anode technology enables Enevate and its licensees to deliver ultrafast charging, high energy density, excellent low temperature performance, and safety benefits.
The composite uses carbon as a conductive matrix, silicon as the main active material, and silicon-carbide as a silicon-surface protecting nanometer-scale layer. The anodes are bonded with a proprietary process to the current collector.
The strategic investment from LG Chem indicates the significance of our technology because it could directly address consumer concerns with EVs, such as charge time and range anxiety, cost, and safety. We look forward to our strategic partnerships with companies such as LG Chem to commercialize advanced batteries that will accelerate the adoption of EVs worldwide.
—,Robert A. Rango, Enevate’s President and CEO
Enevate offers a complete HD-Energy Technology and licensing package to enable global EV automotive and EV battery manufacturers to achieve production volume quickly and to drive adoption of next-generation features that take EVs to the next level.
Enevate investors include Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, Presidio Ventures – a Sumitomo Corporation company, CEC Capital, Samsung, Lenovo, and LG Chem.
If LG Chem is getting into the act, it means this is very likely to go big. This is good news, and I'm looking forward to being able to buy cells when my Fusion battery needs to be rebuilt in a few years.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 24 October 2018 at 04:51 AM
Battery charge controllers are designed specifically for the chemistry of the original battery and may not work with these new cells in your Fusion.
Posted by: Paroway | 24 October 2018 at 04:18 PM
A battery charge controller is a current bleed device and can be programmed to work with any cell chemistry.
I'm most anticipating the low-temperature performance of the Enevate chemistry. The low-temperature performance of my current battery must be poor, because at around 0 F and below the car immediately starts the combustion engine when turned on even when the battery is fully charged. There's no reason to do this if the battery is capable of supplying sufficient current, so that must be inadequate at such reasonably expected outdoor temperatures. The Enevate cells are rated highly capable at -40 C, so the battery controller could be re-programmed to allow full electric operation well below the current limiting temperature.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 24 October 2018 at 05:51 PM
A lot of research and corporate activity among battery principles; some day one of them is gong to produce an economic battery so we can buy a decent $20,000 EV and punt the internal combustion engine into the weeds.
Posted by: Lad | 24 October 2018 at 06:42 PM