Lithium News

Trying to stay on top of disruptive technologies isn’t easy. Sometimes, things sneak up on us. Last month, a firm called Sila Nanotechnologies landed $70 million in funding for their lithium battery technology. That’s when we realized that a lot of funding has been going into the lithium battery technology space in 2018. It’s a topic we’ve covered most recently in a March 2017 article we published titled “A List of New Lithium Battery Technology Startups“. At the end of the article, we asked our readers to bring to our attention any names of startups developing technology to improve lithium batteries that had crept under our radar. They did, and in less than a year and a half it appears that the landscape has already changed quite significantly. Let’s start by looking at some of the biggest funding rounds in 2018 for lithium ion battery startups so far.

Taking on the Gigafactory

Founded in 2002 and hailing from Hayward California, Farasis took in a monster round of $790 million in February of this year in their first recorded funding round to date. The two co-founders, currently holding CEO and CTO positions, have extensive experience working on developing lithium batteries. The CFO worked previously in M&A at Merrill Lynch, so they may be looking at expanding through acquisition using all that cash they have on hand. In a news release published late last year, the company talked about a “1 million battery pack order”, and how they are moving towards 35 gigawatt-hours per year. The term “gigawatt-hours per year” provides a convenient way to measure battery production across various manufacturers, all of which who are producing different battery configurations:The chart above from the Economist shows the growth plans of major battery manufacturers over the next 3 years. If Farasis hits their goal of 35GWh annually, they would be a major player alongside the likes of Panasonic and BYD. And they might be interested in what’s going on at our next startup.

Nano And Anodes

Founded in 2011, San Francisco startup Sila Nanotechnologies has taken in $70 million in funding so far from a single round that closed just last month. In addition to securing funding from a large Japanese lithium battery manufacturer (Amperex), the startup has also partnered with BMW who expects the technology will result in a “10 to 15 percent increase in the amount of energy you can pack into a battery cell of a given volume.” That’s according to an article by MIT Technology Review which talks about how this new nanomaterial that will replace graphite anodes with silicon anodes. According to an article by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence back in 2016, Tesla seems to think that the anode is one of the most important cost factors for a lithium ion battery:

When downplaying the lithium supply issue, Tesla explained that the most important cost factors to a lithium ion battery included the cost of nickel and the graphite anode. “The main determinants on the cost of the cell are the price of the nickel in the form that we need it… and the cost of the synthetic graphite with silicon oxide coating,” explained Musk. Graphite has not experienced the price spikes that lithium is going through primarily because the price is driven by the materials’ consumption in steel, a globally depressed market. As a result, graphite’s supply situation has fallen under the radar.

Sila’s product is a powder that can work as a drop-in material so that existing battery manufacturing processes don’t need to be changed. Expectations are that next year it appears in consumer electronics products and in BMW vehicles by 2023 (apparently there’s a 5-year lead time of required testing by the auto industry.)

Will We Finally Achieve Solid State?

Staying on the anode topic, an article by Greentech Media says that “for battery nerds, ‘solid-state’ is synonymous with ‘lithium metal anode,” that’s according to battery expert David Snydacker. Solid state batteries use both solid electrodes and solid electrolytes, instead of the liquid or polymer electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries. This creates a safer battery and also increases the energy density as well. Founded in 2010 and hailing out of the San Francisco Bay Area, startup Quantumscape closed on a $100 million funding round this past June from leading venture capital firms like Khosla and Kleiner Perkins along with Volkswagen as lead investor. Apparently, Volkswagen has been working with Quantumscape since 2012 and expects to more than double the range of their E-Golf using Quantumscape technology. You’ll need to wait until at least 2025 to see it hit the streets.

A Solid Plastic Electrolyte

Staying on the topic of solid state batteries, our next startup is also taking in funding from auto manufacturers to develop a polymer electrolyte that will support lithium anodes without going pear shaped. Founded in 2012, Massachusetts-based Ionic Materials has taken in a total of $65 million in funding from some big corporate names like Renault, Total Energy, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. All that disclosed funding came in the form of a Series C round that closed in February of this year with the company coming out of stealth mode only recently to talk about their flame-resistant solid-state battery which is not only cheaper to produce but also claims a 5 to 10 times increase in energy density. That’s according to an article by IEEE Spectrum which talks about how the battery can be pierced and cut without exploding. In a follow-up to that article, IEEE Spectrum interviewed Bill Joy, the man who wisely once said that that the future doesn’t need us, and who also says that Ionic Materials is not a battery company, but an IP company that’s developed an incredible material that there isn’t even a name for – thus the company name, Ionic Materials.

Zee Best Battery for Zee Smart Home

It’s not just the anode that can be improved upon but also other battery components, like the cathode. Our next startup uses iron as a cathode which offers superior safety features along with better durability (the battery can run through more charge-discharge cycles before performance starts to degrade.) Founded in 2008, German startup Sonnen has taken in $168.5 million in funding so far with their latest round – a $71 million Series E – closing in May of this year and led by Shell Ventures. Sonnen didn’t develop their batteries in-house, but instead they’re using Sony’s Fortelian battery line which uses iron as a cathode and offers up the following benefits:

Sonnen has packaged these batteries into a “smart home energy solution”, and the end result is a battery that was featured in our article on “10 Companies Selling Home Batteries“. Sonnen plans to use their new funding to expand into the U.S. and Australia. An article in Renew Economy today talks about how the Australian government is subsidizing up to 50,000 home installations that Sonnen plans to build out over the next 5 years.

Electric Vehicles, Batteries, or Both?

Our next startup could qualify as a lithium battery company, it just depends on who you talk to. Founded in 2013, Chinese startup Skio Matrix has taken in a total of $250 million in funding with the majority of that money comprising a Series C round that closed in February of this year totaling $159 million. We’re hearing mixed reports about whether or not this is a battery company, with an article by China Money Network stating that the company started out “designing batteries for new energy cars” and now “helps auto manufacturers convert their existing vehicles models into electric vehicles” with some auto financing thrown in for good measures. Skio Matrix is also building out a nationwide electric vehicle charging network in China so we’re keeping them on our radar.

Electric Buses for All

Founded in 2004, San Francisco startup Proterra has taken in a whopping $472.2 million so far with participation from big-name investors like BMW, General Motors, and Kleiner Perkins. We’ve talked about Proterra last year in an article titled Electric Bus Startup Proterra Up Against China, and since then they’ve taken in another $100 million in funding in the form of a Series G that closed in May of this year. So far, Proterra buses have traveled more than 5 million miles on routes in communities across North America, operating at a lower overall cost than traditional diesel, CNG, and hybrid buses.

Their Catalyst E2 bus released last year has 2X the horsepower, 2X the acceleration, and 5X the efficiency of a diesel bus. The batteries that power these buses have been developed in partnership with LG Chem and deliver a nominal range of up to 426 miles—the longest range in the industry. As evidence of their batteries’ potential, Proterra set a world record last year for driving the longest distance ever traveled with an electric vehicle on a single charge. Proterra’s 40-foot Catalyst E2 max traveled 1,101.2 miles with 660 kWh of energy storage capacity.

Conclusions

We recently wrote about how strong the demand for lithium is expected to be in the next ten years, mainly because electric vehicles will soon comprise the majority of vehicles on our roadways. Well, at least Chinese, European, and American roadways. The increased need for lithium that is expected to benefit companies like FMC, but it will also create an incentive for designers to create batteries that use less lithium. Likewise, any other materials used in lithium ion battery production that become high-demand and consequently high-price will also be prime targets for substitute materials to be developed that perform better. Will carbon nanomaterials finally live up to their promise? We sure hope so, because investors have been waiting an awful long time now.

Farasis Energy, a global developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion cells, modules and large battery systems, recently completed C-round financing exceeding 1 Billion US dollars. The compay will use the capital raised to accelerate the expansion of its global automotive battery manufacturing infrastructure.

Presently, Farasis has two production bases in China: Ganzhou and Zhenjiang. Since 2017 Farasis has regularly ranked first in terms of shipments of NCM-based Li-ion pouch cells to the Chinese automotive market.

In July, Farasis established a new manufacturing base in Zhenjiang with a planned annual capacity of 20 GWh. At the same time, the company officially launched its European Manufacturing Center Project, and opened an office in Stuttgart, Germany staffed with business development, engineering and corporate personnel.

The feasibility study and site selection evaluation for the European Manufacturing Center has been completed with the plant scheduled to be in place to support major European vehicle plants in 2021. With rapidly increasing demand from their customers and the strong support of their shareholders, Farasis expects to announce additional global expansion projects throughout 2018 and 2019.

In 2017, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, awarded two advanced electric vehicle (EV) battery development/manufacturing contracts, together valued at more than $7 million, to Farasis.

The Farasis Energy contract award, valued at $5.9 million, is for the development of high-energy density, low cost lithium-ion (Li-ion) cell technology that meets USABC goals for advanced batteries for EVs for 2020 commercialization.

Monash University has had its say on the future of electric vehicles, in a late submission to the Senate Elect Committe on Electric Vehicles – and the upshot is, Australia needs to leverage opportunities in lithium processing and EV battery innovation.

Lithium ion batteries are by and large the best option for powering electric cars, and while developments in battery technology continue to improve, the 20-30 year lag in new tech commercialisation means that is not going to change in the near future.

But although the majority of mass market carmakers either already have or will have electric cars as part of their automotive offerings in the near future and that the 5 millionth EV to be sold globally is expected in March 2019, there continues to be a cost disparity that has Australia lagging in the uptake of electric vehicles.

Engineers Prof. Mainak Majumder and Assoc. Prof. Jacek Jasienak, who made the submission on behalf of the Melbourne university, highlight the fact that as with any emerging technology there is a tension between supply and need, and believe that the role of government is to remove that tension through incentives.

However, because electric vehicles will also have an effect on national energy demands, those potential changes must be understood and managed effectively – and if executed well, could help reduce energy costs for Australians.

“These planning processes need to start now for electric vehicles because they are inherently tied to the planning processes of electricity market participants,” explain the authors.

“Electric vehicles will provide an additional complexity to the energy market by providing portable energy storage units.

“However, this is a potential opportunity that needs to be unpacked in great detail because it has the potential to lower energy prices, drive electric vehicle adoption, stabilise our electricity grids, and create new businesses – if done well.”

The price of batteries as we know is a factor in the high price of electric vehicles, and in order for this to drop, the authors say production must be scaled up.

Rich in natural lithium resources, Australia is in a unique position to capitalise on the growing market for lithium ion batteries, by building on our long and storied history of technological innovation.

“Focussing on innovation around the discovery and processing of these ores within Australia will create new opportunities to generate and use intellectual property, particularly in processes for purifying & accumulation of these components,” write the authors.

This should not only include the processing and purifying of lithium ore, but also ways to recycle EV batteries, they write.

These opportunities lead to the next question, say the authors: “Should we be manufacturing EVs or components (such as batteries) for EVs in Australia?”

The answer to that question is not necessarily obvious.

After all, EVs and components are already being manufactured worldwide and as such, Australia may struggle in a global EV mass market, Jasienak and Majumder reason.

Instead, we should continue to invest our time and energy in ore discovery and processing, new battery development, and end-of-use/recycling of high energy batteries.

“Areas of strength lie in development of IP, protection and nurturing of emerging energy storage technologies and integrated systems for electric vehicles developed in our innovation system so that we are better prepared for the next-generation of technologies required for the EV market,” the authors conclude.

Liquid X Printed Metals, an advanced material manufacturer of functional metallic inks, has announced a collaboration effort with Bonbouton (a company focused on developing thermal sensing applications using a smart textile platform) to build graphene-enhanced temperature and pressure sensors directly on textiles using additive manufacturing techniques.

Through Bonbouton’s inkjet-printable graphene technology, licensed from the Stevens Institute of Technology, the Company is developing thin and mechanically flexible sensors for wearable physiology monitoring. This gives consumers wearable personal health options that are unobtrusive, comfortable and attractive, while still enabling the collection of accurate, precise and useful data.

Through this collaboration, Liquid X will use its proprietary particle-free inks to inkjet print interconnects directly on textiles. These interconnects carry signals from a graphene-sensing layer back to device hardware, where the data can be analyzed. Liquid X’s unique ability to metalize textile fibers reduces steps in the manufacturing process of electronically integrated textiles and employs a low-cost, scalable manufacturing method widely utilized in the textile industry. The Company stated: “We have seen many companies trying to claim the durable conductive trace on textiles but the Liquid X technology truly stands out and we share the same passion for the future of printed electronics.”

“This collaboration builds on Liquid X’s vision of using our functional metallic inks for designing and developing functional components for electronic devices. With the move to our new lab facility in RIDC Park West, we now have a full range of equipment along with the technical expertise necessary to build and test prototypes,” said Beth Vasy, Vice President of Operations at Liquid X.

The two companies expect to have prototype models developed and tested for industry by 2019Flex, starting on February 18, 2019 in Monterey, California.

German battery storage giant Sonnen has announced plans to manufacture up to 10,000 battery storage units a year at the old Holden car manufacturing site in Adelaide, confirming that there is a future for manufacturing in a state with high renewables.

The announcement by Sonnen came just a day after the South Australia Liberal government unveiled the details of its $100 million Home Battery Scheme, a subsidy of up to $6,000 per household that will be supported by a further $100 million in finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Sonnen founder and CEO Christoph Ostermann told RenewEconomy in an interview on Sunday that the production facility should be up and running with two months, given the preparations that have been made since sonnen first proposed an Adelaide manufacturing base with the previous Labor government.

The new Liberal government’s subsidy scheme, designed to support 40,000 households with direct grants, plus the CEFC financing component, and the preference for locally built batteries, means the key drivers for the manufacturing facility remain in place.

Ostermann says Australia is now the most attractive market for battery storage in the world – even more than his home market of Germany – because of its high retail prices for electricity, it’s excellent weather, and the high uptake of rooftop solar.

Nearly 2 million homes have installed more than 7GW of rooftop solar in Australia, including 230,000 homes and businesses in South Australia, with more than 800MW installed in that state.

Storage is considered critical in Australia, and other countries with growing shares of wind and solar, but is particularly acute in South Australia, where within a few years the amount of electricity produced by rooftop solar will be more than total state demand at certain times.

Ostermann says 50,000 batteries manufactured over five years in South Australia would – depending on the size of battery installed – create a “virtual power plant” of between 150MW and 250MW. Sonnen batteries come in three sized – 5WH, 10kWh and 15kWh.

This, he said, was the equivalent of a gas fired generator but could do so more because of its speed and versatility, and because it could offer crucial grid services as well, as storing electricity for use in the evening and at times of peak demand. He said the world is moving towards a more decentralised grid, and Australian network owners and operators understand that.

The South Australia government described the news as a “major coup” for South Australia, and said the transition from assembling batteries to manufacturing batteries would create around 430 manufacturing and installation jobs in the state.

The former GM Holden site at Elizabeth will become Sonnen’s central shipping facility for Australia and the Asia and South Pacific region.

“We have been working with Sonnen for many months and this investment is a huge vote of confidence in South Australia,” said minister for trade and tourism and investment, David Ridgeway.

“Manufacturing has been a key foundation of South Australia’s economy for decades and this is set to continue on the back of leading companies like Sonnen establishing an advanced manufacturing presence in our state.”

South Australia is now well past a 50 per cent share of wind and solar in its electricity mix, and is headed to more than 70 per cent by 2020, and possibly 100 per cent (in production equivalent) by 2025, according to forecasts by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

This is underpinned by projects now under construction, and by plans by UK billionaire to spend more than $1 billion building 1GW of large scale solar and storage to power his newly bought Whyalla steelworks and other major manufacturers in the state,

“The Marshall Government’s $100 million home battery storage scheme, the CEFC’s $100 million MOU and today’s announcement confirms that South Australia is a world leader in the utilisation of solar technology,” the minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan said in a statement.

Both parties said that the rollout of Sonnen’s battery system, combined with rooftop solar, is also expected to provide significant savings to household electricity bills.

“As the sonnenBatterie can charge and discharge up to three times a day, it is ideal, once battery numbers reach a certain level, to form a ‘virtual power plant’ capable of supplying energy to the grid on days of high demand,” Ostermann said.

He noted Sonnen already runs a ‘virtual power plant’ in Germany, where they connect thousands of households with a PV (photovoltaic) system and a storage system to form the decentralized sonnenCommunity.

Sonnen will also launch a sales and technical training facility in Adelaide dedicated to increasing skills in this new technology. sonnen expects to establish a training accreditation program to be run with TAFE SA to fulfil skilled workforce requirements locally.

Ostermann said participants in the government scheme will be able to choose to buy the Sonnen storage system outright or pay for a battery and solar system over time with no upfront payment.

Combined with sonnenFlat – sonnen eServices’ retail energy offering – customers can pay a low monthly fee, covering the complete power system and all their energy needs with guaranteed savings on their current energy bill. The flat rates last for the whole 20 year design life of the sonnenBatterie.

Harley-Davidson, the American symbol for internal combustion, chrome and steel, is going all in on two-wheeled EVs.

The Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer is going electric and coming to Silicon Valley. Harley announced it will open an R&D space in the Bay Area by the end of 2018 to support its commitment to build electric vehicles.

“The real reason is talent,” Harley-Davidson’s Group Chief Engineer Vance Strader told TechCrunch. “We’re after people who really have a passion for and understanding of electric vehicles and the systems that make them great. [That] sort of culture we’re more likely to get in Silicon Valley: the entrepreneurial, agile, nimble culture,” he said.

Strader also offered a preview of some of the features riders can expect from the company’s first electric motorcycle, expected later next year. Specifically around Harley’s world famous engine sound — something it attempted to trademark at one point. Strader said HD’s EVs would have their own distinct sound, “but there’ll be nothing fake about the sound. It will be entirely generated by the vehicle.”

As we reported earlier this year, the company jolted the motorcycle world by announcing it would create an EV for sale by August 2019 — a production version of its Project LiveWire concept moto.

Harley-Davidson went further in June when CEO Matthew Levatich announced an expanded lineup of EVs, including lighter motorcycles and the possibility of scooters and bicycles.

To achieve these goals, the facility in Silicon Valley “will initially focus on electric vehicle research and development, including battery, power electronics and e-machine design, development and advanced manufacturing,” according to a company release.

Harley’s Silicon Valley move comes as e-motos could be at a pivotal moment in shifting the motorcycle industry toward electric. Three startups — Alta Motors, Energica and Zero Motorcycles — have revved up promotion, distribution and sales in the U.S. They are betting on pulling more gas riders to the e-moto experience and attracting more young folks and women to buying motorcycles — after years of contraction in the American market.

Shortly after announcing their 2019 electric production target, Harley-Davidson took an (undisclosed) equity stake in Alta and entered into a co-development partnership.