The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) awarded a $3-million technology development contract to Amprius Technologies for a low-cost, fast-charge silicon nanowire cell technology for electric vehicles.

The contract award, which includes a 50% cost share, funds a 30-month project that began earlier this year. The focus of the program is to develop a material structure and composition for their silicon nanowire anode, with the goal of extending both cycle and calendar life.

Amprius’ silicon technology is designed to provide significant performance advancement. Specifically, applied to electric vehicles, Amprius is working to address pressing issues, like range anxiety and charging time.

—Dr. Ionel Stefan, Chief Technology Officer at Amprius Technologies

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE), USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that advance commercialization of next-generation electrified vehicle applications. In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.

USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development.

All USCAR Member companies have joined in becoming signatories of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative (RRMI, now part of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, RMI) Declaration of Support.