envia\'s energy-dense battery could cut electric vehicle costs

Electric cars can be faster than you think.
So far, high battery costs have raised prices and restricted the driving range of Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S.
The battery pack is the most expensive part of these vehicles and costs up to half the cost of the car itself.
But the Envia system recently announced a breakthrough that could significantly lower the price of electric vehicles. The California-
The startup revealed that it has developed a rechargeable lithium
The energy density of ion batteries is almost twice that of today\'s batteries.
If commercialized, Envia\'s battery can cut the price of car batteries by half.
\"We increase the energy density to 400 wh/kg [watt-
Hourly per kilogram
Atul Kapadia, CEO of Envia, said.
\"Envia is making [electric car]revolution.
Not in the future.
Not some lovely technology. But right now.
\"In recent years, progress in the direction of better batteries has been stable, but slow.
To speed up progress, DOE has created a project for storing batteries for electrical energy in transit (BEEST)
Funding for research on low-cost battery technology.
In 2009, Envia received a $4 million grant from BEEST, which was awarded by the Department of Energy\'s senior Research Project Agency, energy (ARPA-E).
\"Battery progress is about 5% [a year]
Energy density.
It just won\'t let us take an electric car soon. They will [remain]
It\'s too expensive . \"
Danny Yum, project leader at BEEST.
\"BEEST is set to reach a very positive 400 wh/kg indicator at the high discharge rate required for electric vehicles . . . . . . Envia has achieved this, at least for energy density
It is twice the current commercial battery.
Great.
\"The battery base and the innovative battery of Envia are made up of a series of batteries that generate electricity.
The three main components of the battery are the anode at one end, the cathode at the other end, and the electrolyte in the middle.
In lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion moves between the anode and the cathode through an electrolyte to generate current. Currently, lithium-ion batteries power many popular smartphones and laptops.
\"The biggest problem is the cost.
70% of lithium-ion cell [cost]
From materials.
In general, the cost of 40% is the cathode, \"Envia co-
Sujeet Kumar, founder and CTO.
\"The cathode is the most expensive part.
If you want to reduce the cost of lithium
Ion batteries, the first thing you want to reduce is the cost of the cathode.
In 2007, Kumar began to study new cathode technology, hoping to find a lowcost, energy-
Intensive innovation.
After reviewing the academic literature, he chose a manganese
Basic chemistry created by Argonne National Laboratory.
Envia licensed the technology and then started to optimize cathode chemistry.
\"The real reason why we choose [
Manganese chemistryis because of [Sujeet’s]instinct.
He looked at hundreds of documents and found the one [approach]that his gut [
Tell him to work. .
There are other candidates. [He]
\"This may be related to the chemical reaction of 3 m,\" Kapadia said . \". “We looked at [Argonne’s]
\"Technology and start making new pieces,\" says Kumar . \".
\"Between 2007 and 2009, we solved most of the cathode problems.
We worked with OEM and quantified our cathode . . . . . . We have more than 30 patents on our technology.
The cathode chemistry of Envia includes manganese, nickel, cobalt and lithium-manganese-oxide.
The multi-layer composite structure increases the stability of the battery.
Nano-coating can improve cell cycle.
Next, Envia combines an anode with its new cathode-a great feat. But with ARPA-
Envia began to develop a complementary Silicon-carbon anode.
\"The bottleneck [became]the anode.
This is ARPA-E funded.
This is our proposal . \"
\"We have a very good working cathode. If you [could]
Pair it with the anode, you [would]
Finally get 400 wh/kg battery.
\"The electrolytic power system department of the Naval Surface Combat Center tested and verified the energy density breakthrough of Envia, including cycle life, safety and qualification.
However, until the Envia battery is commercialized on electric vehicles, it must also meet the cycle life requirements, meet safety standards and be identified.
For automotive applications, auto companies want the battery to have a cycle life of at least 500-the number of times the battery is fully charged and discharged.
Envia wants to develop a battery with a cycle life of 1,000 for longer driving distances.
So far, Envia has cycled its cathode more than 4,000 times.
But the start-up used only 400 times of the first-generation anode. “[Our]
Iteration of the update. . . It has been cycled 50 times.
I think they will go all the way to 1,000 [cycles],” said Kumar.
\"This is an iterative process [that]
It takes a long time. [Our work]
Really gave us five.
An advantage over a year for anyone who wants to start [
Develop similar batteries]
Now, because even if you [have]
Thousands of engineers, you can\'t get cycle life and calendar life data so quickly.
\"Say [Sujeet really likes it]that]
All science is under 100 cycles. and]
\"In more than 100 cycles, this is all engineering,\" Kapadia said . \".
\"We are 400 now. plus [cycles].
So we are [now [in]to engineering.
In terms of security, Envia\'s demo team passed the nail gun test. (
In fact, its battery was shot with a nail gun, no explosion).
But there are other security tests that the company needs to meet.
\"We need to address security issues in the next three to six months,\" Kapadia said . \".
\"How do we gain confidence in the use of lithium by car companies and the public --ion batteries?
I don\'t think I have confidence yet [
Battery for electric vehicles
There are Chevrolet fire and Tesla bricks.
In addition, Envia\'s battery needs to be identified for two to four years.
\"Our next step is to get [ahead of time] through the qualification review [cell]
Qualified automotive industry.
\"Put it on the road,\" Kumar said . \".
Funding and commercialism in addition to ARPA
E grant, Envia has raised money from GM\'s venture capital division, Japan\'s Asahi Kasei and Asahi Glass, as well as venture capital companies Bay Partners, pangventures and Redpoint Ventures
\"We raised $17 million in December 2010 and all the money was in the bank,\" Kapadia said . \".
Envia is not going to make the battery itself.
Instead, Kapadia and Kumar want to produce battery materials in the United States and then authorize or work with one or more battery manufacturers abroad to bring batteries to market.
\"We will make materials in the United States because intellectual property is key [consideration].
Cost is an important factor, . . . . . . We can purchase equipment from cheaper countries in Asia and build [production]
This is credible, \"Kapadia said. “[Manufacturing]cells is [a]
System integration problem. . .
No one can tear off the required material.
We decided to let [battery cells]
In China, the cost is only a small part.
\"There are two ways we can go, the way Apple is hoarding [the technology]
Put everything in [the company]
More profits [per battery], [but gain lower]
Market share, \"continued Kapadia.
\"Or the IBM/PC/Microsoft way, that is, to commercialize everything, to authorize everything, to make money, [only]a small slice [On each battery]
. . . . . . This is the decision we want to make in the next two quarters.
This decision will be decided and dominated by the information we hear from our customers.
\"Competitors are just one of many companies that develop advanced lithium --ion batteries.
Competitors include established companies such as Panasonic, LG Chemical and BASF, and the latter two have the same technology license as Envia at Argonne National Laboratory.
Many other beginnings
Ups is exploring lithium
Ion progression and alternative chemistry. Boston-
Recently, Power raised money from Chinese investors to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries.
QuantumScape is the beginning of an invisible
Support by Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers at most. ARPA-
E also funded Sion Power, Pellion Technologies and PolyPlus, which are developing Lithium
Sulfur, magnesium-
Lithium ion and lithium-
They are air batteries.
\"Frankly, some other companies [we funded]are close [to 400 wh/kg],” said ARPA-E’s Boysen.
\"Our job is not to bring a technology to the end, but to bring a lot of technology to the end.