Solid-state sodium-ion batteries are safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries, which pose a risk of fire and explosions, but their performance has been too weak to offset the safety advantages. Researchers at the University of Houston have now developed an organic cathode that improves both stability and energy density. The improved... Read more →

Ford Motor Company is teaming up with Solid Power (earlier post) to develop all solid-state batteries (ASSB) for next-generation electric vehicles. The announced partnership will focus on further developing ASSBs toward automotive requirements. Solid Power’s solid-state technology combines a cathode, metallic lithium anode, and a safe, inorganic solid electrolyte layer.... Read more →

The public transport company ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH from Wiesbaden in Germany’s Hesse region has ordered 56 Mercedes‑Benz eCitaro electric urban buses. With this commission, the city of Wiesbaden is switching a fifth of its bus fleet to electromobility within a short period of time. As a provider of comprehensive electromobility... Read more →

Innoviz Technologies, a provider of high-performance, solid-state lidar sensors and perception software, raised $132 million in Series C funding. The round is marked by the entrance of new major investors China Merchants Capital (SINO-BLR Industrial Investment Fund, L.P.), Shenzhen Capital Group and New Alliance Capital; and Israeli institutional investors Harel... Read more →

Scientists from Tohoku University and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization have developed a new complex hydride lithium superionic conductor that could result in all-solid-state batteries with the highest energy density to date. An open-access paper on the work is published in Nature Communications. The researchers say the new material,... Read more →

Semi-solid battery developer 24M has developed a novel dual electrolyte system that makes it possible to manufacture Li-ion battery cells with compositionally distinct electrolytes—anolytes and catholytes—at scale, enabling next-generation chemistries capable of providing industry-leading energy density (more than 350Wh/kg), while improving cycle life, safety and cost. 24M CTO Naoki Ota... Read more →

NGK Spark Plug, a manufacturer with more than 80 years of experience in spark plugs and ceramics, and lunar exploration company ispace, inc., announced that NGK Spark Plug has agreed to participate as a corporate partner of the world’s first commercial lunar exploration program “HAKUTO – R”. NGK Spark Plug... Read more →

PolyPlus Battery Company a privately-held company focused on the development of the first rechargeable Li metal battery with a ionically conductive glass separator, has entered into the first stage of a joint development agreement with SK Innovation Co. Ltd., Korea’s first and largest energy and chemical company. SK selected PolyPlus... Read more →

In a review published in the journal Chem of the technical issues generated by the mating of Li-metal anodes and solid-state electrolytes, a team from Tsinghua University concludes that such solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) have “brilliant prospects, though practically there are still many barriers to be overcome.” A solid-state... Read more →

Researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University and Nippon Institute of Technology at Tokyo Tech examined the mechanisms behind the resistance at the electrode-electrolyte interface of all-solid-state batteries and found that the crystallinity has a significant impact on interface resistance. Their paper is published in the journal ACS Applied... Read more →

Fisker Inc., an e-mobility and technology company developing electric vehicles and proprietary solid-state battery technologies, announced a strategic investment from Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric... Read more →

Carbon fibers have already beeen demonstrated as high-capacity Li-ion battery anodes, opening the way for their use as structural electrodes—i.e., simultaneously carrying mechanical load and storing electrical energy. Now, researchers led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have linked the carbon fiber (CF) microstructure to the lithium insertion mechanism and... Read more →

Germany’s Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has launched a new €16-million cluster—FestBatt—to foster basic research into solid-state batteries. Fourteen scientific institutions have joined FestBatt; the competence cluster is coordinated by the University of Gießen (JLU). Solid-state batteries are fireproof and might enable larger storage capacities and quicker charging processes... Read more →

Researchers in China report that commercialized liquid electrolyte can be easily converted into a novel quasi-solid gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) via a simple and efficient in situ gelation strategy. The newly developed GPE exhibits elevated protective effects on Li metal anodes and has universality for diversified cathodes including, but not... Read more →

Solid Power, a developer of all solid-state batteries (ASSB), closed $20 million in a Series A investment round. The Series A funding will allow the company to scale-up production via a multi-MWh roll-to-roll facility, which will be fully constructed and installed by the end of 2018 and fully operational in... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is awarding nearly $3 million to 13 projects to stimulate the use of high performance supercomputers to advance U.S. manufacturing. The US DOE national laboratories have some of the most significant high performance computing (HPC) resources available,... Read more →

Low current is considered one of the biggest hurdles in the development of solid-state batteries; it is the reason why the batteries take a relatively long time to charge fully—some 10 to 12 hours for a solid-state battery. Now, researchers at Jülich Forschungzentrum have introduced a new concept battery that... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded nearly $3.8 million for 13 industry projects under fifth round of selections for the High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) Program for the HPC4Mfg Program, led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and its partners Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Oak... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor have combined recent developments in reducing interface resistance and optimizing microstructure to develop a solid electrolyte that demonstrates Li cycling at current densities competitive with Li-ion. Next generation electric vehicles and consumer electronics demand volumetric energy densities beyond that capable of state-of-the-art Li-ion... Read more →

LeddarTech has delivered the first A-samples of its LeddarCore LCA2 system-on-chip (SoC) (earlier post) to select automotive partners which will be publicly disclosed at a later date this year. The LCA2 is the autonomous vehicle industry’s first 3D solid-state LiDAR (SSL) SoC and is available now to Tier-1 automotive manufacturers... Read more →

A team from Tohoku University and Tokyo Tech have addressed one of the major disadvantages of all-solid-state batteries by developing batteries with a low resistance at their electrode/solid electrolyte interface. The fabricated batteries, reported in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, showed excellent electrochemical properties that greatly surpass those... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario are proposing selenium (Se) as a promising cathode material for all-solid-state Li batteries, paired with a lithium-tin (L-Sn) alloy as an anode and Li3PS4 as the electrolyte. In a paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science, the team reports that in... Read more →

The first Mercedes-Benz battery-electric eCitaro bus (earlier post) will be delivered at the end of the year and will go into practical operations in the context of a customer-oriented driving test. The Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH, operator of the local public transport system in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, signed a corresponding declaration... Read more →

Hyundai CRADLE, Hyundai Motor Company’s corporate venturing and open innovation business, is investing in Ionic Materials, a privately held battery materials developer based in Massachusetts, to advance the development of battery technology and improve EV performance with solid-state battery innovation. Ionic Materials is a materials technology company developing advanced materials... Read more →

A team from France-based leading battery company Saft and Université Paris Est reports on solid-state batteries operating at 120 °C prepared with metal hydride MH nanocomposites xMgH2+(1-x)TiH2 used as active materials for the positive electrode; metallic Li as the negative electrode; and LiBH4 as the solid electrolyte in a paper in... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is increasing its stake in solid-state energy company QuantumScape Corporation (earlier post) and forming a new joint venture with the intention of paving the way for the next level of battery power for long-range e-mobility. Volkswagen will invest US$100 million in QuantumScape and will become the innovative... Read more →

Researchers from Philipps-Universität Marburg, with colleagues from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Toyota Motor Europe, have investigated the role of void space on ion tranport in a composite cathode for solid-state Li-ion batteries. Their study, published in the Journal of Power Sources, reports a significant effect of residual voids in... Read more →

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has launched the second phase of a major solid-state Li-ion battery project in a quest to achieve both high energy density and safety in batteries for electric vehicles. NEDO set a target date of fiscal 2022 for the core technologies; prior... Read more →

Researchers, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, have used a polymer-folding mechanism to develop a new and versatile kind of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) that currently offers proton conductivity faster than Nafion by a factor of 2, the benchmark for fuel cell membranes. As reported in a... Read more →

The Nikkei reports that Leading Japanese manufacturers have teamed up with the government in a program to develop solid-state batteries. The new program teams the Consortium for Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (Libtec) with companies such as Toyota Motor and Panasonic. To support the program, Japan’s Ministry of... Read more →

Magna and its partner Innoviz Technologies (earlier post) will supply the BMW Group with solid-state LiDAR for upcoming autonomous vehicle production platforms. The new-business award is one of the first in the auto industry to include solid-state LiDAR for serial production. While Magna has demonstrated via its MAX4 platform the... Read more →

Researchers at Zhejiang University of Technology in China have fabricated magnesium borate (of the form Mg2B2O5) nanowire-enabled poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) for solid-state lithium-ion batteries (SSLIBs). As reported in their paper in the ACS journal Nano Letters, these SSEs have enhanced ionic conductivity and a large electrochemical window.... Read more →

Imec, a global research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics, energy and digital technologies, has fabricated an innovative type of solid-state Li-ion battery achieving an energy density of 200 Wh/liter at a charging speed of 0.5C (2 hours). The battery is a significant milestone on imec’s quest to surpass wet Li-ion... Read more →

Researchers led by a team from MIT, with colleagues from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), BMW Group, and Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a fundamentally new approach to alter ion mobility and stability against oxidation of lithium ion conductors—a key component of rechargeable batteries—using lattice dynamics. The new approach,... Read more →

Researchers at Hasselt University in Belgium are proposing a new class of solid composite electrolytes (SCEs) for Li-ion batteries: deep eutectic solvent (DES)–silica composites. The DES-based gel electrolytes—to which the team refers as eutectogels (ETGs)—are characterized by high ionic conductivity (1.46 mS cm–1), thermal (up to 130 °C) and electrochemical... Read more →

Although Bosch intends to lead the mass market for electromobility that will emerge after 2020, the company has decided that the means to achieving that strategic end does not include manufacturing of the battery cells. Bosch announced that while it will rely on its systems expertise and the development and... Read more →

In new research by an international collaboration jointly led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Brandon Wood and Mirjana Dimitrievska of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the team discovered why substituting one boron atom for one carbon atom in a key battery electrolyte material made lithium... Read more →

Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), with colleagues from the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), have evaluated the current challenges and requirements for the large-scale production of all-solid-state lithium-ion and lithium metal batteries. In a paper in the Journal of Power Sources, they report their findings from workshops with... Read more →

France-based advanced battery-maker Saft, a wholly-owned subsidiary of international energy giant Total, is building an alliance with other European partners to launch an ambitious program of research, development and industrialization for new generations of batteries focusing on advanced high-density Li-ion and solid-state battery technology. The program addresses all market segments,... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Maryland have designed a flexible lithium-ion conducting ceramic textile featuring fast lithium-ion conductors, good electrochemical stability, and scalable processing approaches to device integration for solid-state lithium metal batteries. Based on the garnet-type conductor Li7La3Zr2O12, the material exhibits a range of desirable chemical and structural properties,... Read more →

Ionic Materials has secured $65 million in a Series C financing round from a leading group of financial and strategic investors. The investors include companies from the battery manufacturing, consumer electronic and electric vehicle ecosystem which will be working with the company to speed the development of its solid polymer... Read more →

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi launched Alliance Ventures, a new corporate venture capital fund that plans to invest up to $1 billion to support open innovation over the next five years. In its first year, the fund expects to invest up to $200 million in start-ups and open innovation partnerships with technology entrepreneurs focused... Read more →

Fisker unveiled the Emotion electric luxury sedan at CES 2018. Featuring automatic butterfly doors and five integrated Quanergy S3 LiDAR sensors (earlier post) for autonomous driving up to Level 4, the all-wheel drive EMotion has a projected range of 400 miles (644 km) and a top speed of 161 mph... Read more →

The BMW Group is partnering with Solid Power, a developer of solid-state rechargeable batteries, in a joint effort to develop Solid Power’s solid-state batteries for electric vehicle applications. In this effort, the BMW Group will assist Solid Power to advance its technology in order to achieve performance levels required for... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation announced its plans regarding the mass adoption of electrified vehicles for the decade 2020-2030. Toyota’s electrified vehicle strategy centers on a significant acceleration in the development and launch plans of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).... Read more →

The BASF and Volkswagen international “Science Award Electrochemistry 2017” (earlier post) this year goes to Dr. Jennifer Rupp at MIT. The jury of representatives from BASF, Volkswagen and academia selected her for her outstanding research results in the area of next-generation energy storage systems. In addition, a special prize for... Read more →

A team of Department of Energy (DOE) scientists at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) has discovered the fastest magnesium-ion solid-state conductor, a major step towards making solid-state magnesium-ion batteries that are both energy dense and safe. Using ab initio calculations, nuclear magnetic resonance, and impedance spectroscopy measurements,... Read more →

Researchers at Empa and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have developed a prototype of a novel solid-state sodium battery with the potential to store extra energy and with improved safety. With a NaCrO2 cathode, closo-borate solid electrolyte and metallic sodium anode, the cell demonstrated reversible and stable cycling with a... Read more →

Fisker’s scientists, including a co-founder of solid-state battery start-up Sakti3 (acquired by Dyson, earlier post), filed patents this week (under a non-publication request) on flexible, superior energy density solid-state batteries. The patent includes claims over novel materials and manufacturing processes that are critical in achieving the required energy density, power... Read more →

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have devised a new lithium superionic conductor with Li+ conductivity comparable with that of the organic liquid electrolytes. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they report that cluster-based lithium superionic conductors can have very high conductivities of 10−2 to... Read more →