Solid Power, a producer of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, has announced a $130m Series B investment round led by the BMW Group, Ford Motor Company and Volta Energy Technologies.
Ford and the BMW Group have also expanded existing joint development agreements with Solid Power to secure all-solid-state batteries for future electric vehicles.
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By GlobalDataIn a joint release, the companies said the investment positions Solid Power to produce full-scale automotive batteries, increase associated material output and expand in-house production capabilities for future vehicle integration. The BMW Group and Ford aim to utilise Solid Power’s low-cost, high-energy all-solid-state battery technology in forthcoming electric vehicles.
“BMW and Ford now share leading positions in the race for solid-state battery-powered electric vehicles,” said Doug Campbell, chief executive and co-founder of Solid Power. “Solid Power now plans to begin producing automotive-scale batteries on the company’s pilot production line in early 2022 as a result of our partners’ continued commitment to Solid Power’s commercialisation efforts.”
“Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that’s why we’re investing in it directly as well as accelerating Ford’s in-house R&D on next-generation battery technology,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer.
“Leveraging the speed of a startup and the expertise of some of the most seasoned battery experts in the world at Ford, we’re exploring different ways to power tomorrow’s fun-to-drive all-electric vehicles, using proven development and manufacturing processes.”
Solid-state batteries don’t use the liquid electrolyte found in conventional lithium-ion batteries, can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range and lower cost. That’s the promise, but the technology is at an early stage of development.
Both Ford and BMW Group will receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022. Solid Power’s all solid-state platform technology allows for the production of unique cell designs expected to meet performance requirements for each automotive partner.
Solid Power’s truly all-solid cell designs achieve higher energy densities, are safer and are expected to cost less than today’s best performing lithium-ion battery cells.
Ford says Solid Power, which uses sulfide-based solid-state battery cells, has demonstrated its ability to produce and scale next-generation all-solid-state batteries that are designed to power longer range, lower cost and safer electric vehicles using existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure.
Ford also maintains that Solid Power’s leadership in all-solid-state battery development and manufacturing has been confirmed with the delivery of hundreds of production line-produced battery cells that were validated by the BMW Group and Ford late last year, formalising Solid Power’s commercialisation plans with its two long-standing automotive partners.
“By simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we’ll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume and ultimately deliver lower costs and better value for customers,” said Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of electrification subsystems and power supply research.
“We look forward to delivering these improvements and working with Solid Power to seamlessly and quickly integrate their sulfide-based all-solid-state battery cells into existing lithium-ion cell production processes more efficiently than oxide-based solid-state battery cell makers can.”
Ford also has a separate joint development agreement with Solid Power to develop and test its specific battery cell design and help streamline Ford’s integration into future vehicles.
