Group14, a provider of silicon-carbon composite materials (earlier post) and China-based Li-ion battery maker Farasis Energy (earlier post) reported a 25% boost in energy density for EV batteries made with Group14’s silicon-carbon anode material.

In cells built and tested by Farasis utilizing Group14’s flagship silicon-carbon anode material SCC55 (earlier post), Farasis achieved an increase in energy density that would enable them to reach 330 Wh/kg in typical automotive cells with more than 1000 charge-discharge cycles. The battery EV cell will have a volumetric energy density of 750 Wh/l.

Traditional BEV lithium-ion batteries using graphite for anode materials typically can approach 260 Wh/kg energy density, so this performance boost over traditional lithium-ion batteries represents a real breakthrough for EV applications.

—Dr. Keith Kepler, CTO of Farasis Energy

Compared to typical automotive EV batteries on the market today with energy density in the range of 260 Wh/kg, a Farasis Energy automotive battery powered with SCC55 could increase EV range significantly without compromising cycle life standards set by high-quality graphites and synthetic graphites.

These significant third-party results with Farasis demonstrate that SCC55 has the potential to meaningfully impact the performance of batteries for automotive applications. This is a significant milestone in our goal to enable EVs to achieve true cost-parity with internal combustion engines, and Group14 is ready to deliver our lithium-silicon battery technology manufactured in our commercial-scale Battery Active Materials (BAM) factory in Washington state.

—Dr. Rick Costantino, CTO of Group14 Technologies

Farasis has battery partnerships with automotive OEMs Daimler and Geely.

Group14 investors include Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), BASF, Cabot Corporation, Showa Denko and SK materials.