Solid Power, an industry-leading developer of all solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, today announced that its Louisville, Colo. facility is producing 20 ampere hour (Ah) multi-layer all solid-state lithium metal batteries on the company's continuous roll-to-roll production line.
The 330 Wh/kg, 22-layer cells have higher energy density than any commercially available lithium-ion battery manufactured today with a roadmap to surpass 400 Wh/kg by 2022. Solid Power's truly all solid-state cells can be manufactured at commercial scale using industry standard lithium-ion roll-to-roll production equipment. The 20Ah cells are currently being produced to validate large-format cell production processes in partnership with its automotive partners. Solid Power anticipates entering the formal automotive qualification process in early 2022 with even larger capacity all solid-state battery cells.
"Solid Power has shown that our all solid-state cell design can be produced using scalable processes on industry standard lithium-ion equipment, and early multi-layer prototype cells using a highly conservative cell design have already exceeded the energy performance of today's lithium-ion cells," said CEO and co-founder Doug Campbell. "Proof of successful scale-up is key to realizing the potential of any next-generation battery technology, which is why lithium-ion roll-to-roll compatibility has been our mission since day one."
Solid Power's 22-layer cell production comes after more than 400 prototype all solid-state cells were shipped to external parties for independent performance validation.
Solid Power has extensive partnerships with both BMW and Ford to jointly develop all solid-state batteries. The company is backed by prominent investors including Samsung, Hyundai, Ford, Volta Energy Technologies and Solvay.
"Volta is constantly on the lookout for innovative, EV-enabling batteries that have a clear path to market. This is the most commercially advanced solid-state lithium metal technology we have seen," said investor Dave Schroeder, Chief Technology Officer of Volta Energy Technologies. "Solid Power's proof of scale-up is a differentiator that we are excited to invest in."
In addition to enabling continuous discharge rates (up to 5C) that go beyond electric vehicle acceleration performances, Solid Power's 10-layer 2Ah pouch cells are showing stable early cycling at near room temperature while the corresponding double layer pouch cells have already surpassed 250 stable cycles. Further advancements are anticipated before entering the formal automotive qualification process.
Solid Power has also demonstrated even more impressive results with the company's latest electrode compositions, which will move to the production line in 2021, including:
-10°C operation
50% fast-charge in 15 minutes at room temperature
Separator thickness as low as 25 microns
"Solid Power is proving that an all solid-state platform can excel in environments ranging from below freezing to 70°C with an inherently safer chemistry that is free of flammable liquids or gels," said Josh Buettner-Garrett, Chief Technology Officer at Solid Power. "Solid Power has now demonstrated feasibility of large format cells produced on the same equipment used for conventional lithium-ion, and we are excited to push the performance further as we move toward automotive qualification."
The transition of Solid Power's new electrolytes, binders and electrode designs to the company's continuous roll-to-roll production line will result in further improvements to specific energy, energy density, cycle life and charge rates. These improvements will translate into increasingly larger capacity cells culminating in full-scale cell demonstration by the end of 2021.
About Solid Power
Solid Power is an industry-leading developer of all solid-state rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and mobile power markets. Founded in 2012 as a spin-out from the University of Colorado Boulder, Solid Power replaces the flammable liquid electrolyte in a conventional lithium-ion battery with a proprietary sulfide solid electrolyte. As a result, Solid Power's all solid-state batteries are safer and more stable across a broad temperature range, can provide a 50-100% increase in energy density compared to the best available rechargeable batteries, enable cheaper, more energy-dense battery pack designs and are compatible with traditional lithium-ion manufacturing processes. Solid Power has extensive partnerships with both BMW and Ford to jointly develop all solid-state batteries using the company's Louisville-based megawatt-hour-scale (MWh) production line. Solid Power is backed by prominent investors including Samsung, Hyundai, Ford, Volta Energy Technologies and Solvay.
