Solid Power, Inc., an industry-leading developer of all-solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles, in the process of merging with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation III, unveiled safety and performance data on its high-content silicon all-solid-state cell technology, which is being developed to power future electric vehicles. The initial data shows superior specific energy and safety characteristics as compared to traditional lithium-ion. Solid Power’s small pouch cells also surpassed 1,000 cycles at room temperature with greater than 80% capacity retention – a critical metric for automotive use cases. These small pouch cells were produced using scalable processes and the Company is now working to replicate this performance data on increasingly larger capacity cells produced on the Company’s pre-pilot production line.
Solid Power’s all-solid-state battery cell technology utilizes a sulfide-based solid electrolyte to replace all flammable liquid and gel electrolytes used in conventional lithium-ion battery cells. The Company’s 2 ampere hour (Ah) high-content silicon cells demonstrated benign failures when subjected to the following abuse conditions:
- Nail penetration – Solid Power’s fully charged cells were punctured with a conductive nail at room temperature to simulate an accidental penetration of the cell wall. The damaged cells produced no hazard, such as flames, venting or loss of material. During the tests, cell temperature elevated only slightly, with a maximum temperature of 27C recorded.
- Overcharge – Solid Power’s fully charged cells were continuously charged above the typical voltage ceiling at a one-hour (1C) charge rate at room temperature. The cells were tested with and without compression. At 200% state-of-charge, Solid Power’s cells produced no hazard such as flame, venting or loss of material. A maximum temperature of 35C was observed when cells were under compression and 69C when cells were uncompressed.
- External short circuit – Solid Power’s fully charged cells were caused to short circuit to simulate incorrect battery usage. Solid Power’s cells produced no hazard such as flame, venting or loss of material during the tests.
Recommended AI News: RedZone Robotics Launches AI/ML Platform, IntegrityPRO, and Announces Partnership with VODA.ai
An independent, non-profit research and development organization completed all abuse tests according to standards set by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Solid Power believes these third-party results demonstrate the significant safety improvements its cell designs can have over today’s lithium-ion batteries; the most important of which is a reduction in the risk for electric vehicle fires.
“The automotive industry has seen very recent examples of lithium-ion battery safety concerns, resulting in danger to vehicle occupants and expensive electric vehicle recalls,” said Doug Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power. “Our all-solid-state cells could reduce the risk of EV fires and lead to significant battery pack cost reductions by removing the flammable liquid and gel electrolyte.”
Recommended AI News: GrayMatter Robotics Awarded $1 Million from the National Science Foundation
Solid Power has also released performance data on its high-content silicon cell technology. This technology is intended to be used in Solid Power’s automotive-scale Silicon EV Cell design. The initial data showcases:
- High energy: Solid Power has demonstrated the ability to reach a stack-level specific energy of ~350 Wh/kg while also achieving 750 cycles with 80% capacity retention.
- Long cycle life: Solid Power achieved over 1,000 cycles at both 45C and room temperature with greater than 80% capacity retention.
- Fast charge: Solid Power has recorded 650 cycles with a 2C-rate fast charge occurring during every fifth cycle in near room-temperature conditions.
“As Solid Power gears up to enter the automotive qualification phase, we are laser focused on optimizing cell design in order to meet or exceed all of our customer’s requirements,” said Josh Buettner-Garrett, Chief Technology Officer at Solid Power. “We are now working to replicate these initial results in larger format, production-line produced cells.”
Recommended AI News: Ripple and Nelnet Announce $44 Million Clean Energy Fund for a More Sustainable Future
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
Comments are closed.