{"id":23947,"date":"2021-04-20T05:18:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T05:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/general-motors-leads-139-million-investment-into-lithium-metal-battery-developer-ses.html"},"modified":"2021-04-20T05:18:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T05:18:01","slug":"general-motors-leads-139-million-investment-into-lithium-metal-battery-developer-ses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/general-motors-leads-139-million-investment-into-lithium-metal-battery-developer-ses.html","title":{"rendered":"General Motors leads $139 million investment into lithium-metal battery developer, SES"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Motors<\/a> is joining the list of big automakers picking their horses in the race to develop better batteries for electric vehicles with its lead of a $139 million investment into the lithium-metal battery developer, SES<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen has QuantumScape<\/a>; Ford has invested in SolidPower<\/a> (along with Hyundai and BMW); and now with SES\u2019 big backing from General Motors, most of the big American and European automakers have placed their bets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are beyond RD development,\u201d said SES chief executive Hu Qichao in an interview with TechCrunch. \u201cThe main purposes of this funding is to, one, improve the key material, this lithium metal electrolyte on the anode side and the cathode side, and, two, to improve the scale of the current cell from the iPhone battery size to the size that can be used in cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a third component to the financing as well, Hu said, which is to increase the company\u2019s algorithmic capabilities to monitor and manage cell performance. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we and our OEM partners care about,\u201d said Hu.<\/p>\n

The investment from GM is the culmination of nearly six years of work with the big automaker, said Hu. \u201cWe started working with them in 2015. For the next three years we will go through the standard automation approval processes. Going from \u2018A\u2019 sample to \u2018B\u2019 sample all the way through \u2018D\u2019 sample,\u201d which is the final testing phase before commercial availability of SES\u2019 batteries in cars.<\/p>\n

While Tesla, the current leader in electric vehicle sales in America, is looking to improve the form factors of its batteries to make them more powerful and more efficient, Hu said that the chemistry isn\u2019t that different. Solid state batteries represent a step change in battery technology that makes batteries more powerful, easier to recycle and potentially more stable.<\/p>\n

As Mark Harris wrote in TechCrunch<\/a> earlier this year:<\/p>\n

\n

There are many different kinds of SSB but they all lack a liquid electrolyte for moving electrons (electricity) between the battery\u2019s positive (cathode) and negative (anode) electrodes. The liquid electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries limit the materials the electrodes can be made from, and the shape and size of the battery. Because liquid electrolytes are usually flammable, lithium-ion batteries are also prone to runaway heating and even explosion. SSBs are much less flammable and can use metal electrodes or complex internal designs to store more energy and move it faster \u2014 giving higher power and faster charging.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Can solid state batteries power up for the next generation of EVs?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

What SES is doing has brought the company attention not just from General Motors, but from previous investors, including the battery giant SK Innovation<\/a>; the Singapore-based, government-backed investment firm, Temasek; the venture capital arm of semiconductor manufacturer, Applied Materials, Applied Ventures; the Chinese automaking giant, Shanghai Auto; and investment firm, Vertex.<\/p>\n

\u201cGM has been rapidly driving down battery cell costs and improving energy density, and our work with SES technology has incredible potential to deliver even better EV performance for customers who want more range at a lower cost,\u201d said Matt Tsien, GM executive vice president and chief technology officer and president, GM Ventures. \u201cThis investment by GM and others will allow SES to accelerate their work and scale up their business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Article source: https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2021\/04\/19\/general-motors-leads-139-million-investment-into-lithium-metal-battery-developer-ses\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Motors is joining the list of big automakers picking their horses in the race to develop better batteries for electric vehicles with its lead of a $139 million investment <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-23947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-networking-and-communication","tag-network-and-communication"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t