As we shift away from gas- and diesel-powered engines and towards electrification, a recurring downside comes up: Batteries are heavy, and heavy is the enemy of effectivity. The search for cheaper, lighter, extra environment friendly, and safer batteries turns into more and more needed, and there’s a analysis rush taking place proper now.
You solely have to have a look at the billions of {dollars} that automobile producers — together with Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and VW — have poured into battery-focused analysis and growth to see the vacation spot and the drive. In a nutshell: There’s loads occurring.
Movers and shakers on the battery circuit
The pursuit of higher EV batteries has lasted for years, each contained in the R&D labs on the automotive producers and out in startup land.
Nissan has prototyped its personal solid-state battery at its manufacturing unit in Yokohama, Japan, which it hopes can go into manufacturing by 2028. Different automobile producers have opted to place their funds into powering startups.
Factorial Power, which emerged from stealth in April 2021, has an funding and partnership take care of Hyundai and Kia to co-develop and take a look at battery tech in Hyundai EVs. Nonetheless, it additionally has joint collaboration agreements with Mercedes-Benz, which was a “double-digit million-dollar funding” and an unspecified funding from Stellantis, which it hopes will see a rollout of solid-state know-how in 2026. Based mostly in Woburn, Massachusetts, Factorial has operations in South Korea and Japan and a subsidiary in Germany that was introduced in March 2023.
