Amid the field of emerging battery technologies, the success stories can be counted on one hand. While there are dozens of battery innovations currently at lab-scale, the long-term and widespread adoption of a technology depends on finding a balance between innovation, scalability, and cost-effective commercialization, without sacrificing performance.
In the pursuit of perfecting a technology, time is often the most valuable variable — especially in the modern era where consumers want to charge their electric vehicles (EVs) as quickly as they can pump gas and to be untethered from their charging cables for longer periods of time. This is why a balance of process and product innovation is key to ensuring quality at scale. It’s why we designed our next-generation battery material, SCC55™, through the lens of our Applied Innovation framework, which posits that true innovation extends beyond the lab.
Energy density isn’t enough
Today, consumers are constantly seeking better performance, but the leading battery manufacturers and OEMs are wary of betting too heavily on technologies that overvalue performance at the expense of all else. Mindful of bottlenecks that delay products from reaching the hands of consumers, manufacturers, and OEMs see radical improvements in energy density as just one piece of the puzzle.
At Group14, we see it this way: a successful product is only as good as the ability to produce it at scale at a low cost. To strike a harmony between performance and scalability, we designed our silicon-carbon battery material, SCC55™, to enable up to 50% greater energy density and extreme-fast charging, with the simplicity to be manufactured anywhere in the world.
The silicon battery solution for rapid fast charging
It has been more than a century since the advent of the first gas station, which revolutionized and simplified personal transportation. If we are to continue the successful transition to hybrid and electric vehicles, we must ensure that EV drivers have access to a similarly convenient method to charge their vehicles, and the ability to “top up” at home and in public spaces.
With an eye to charging performance, SCC55™ enables batteries to charge to 80% in less than 10 minutes, a game-changer for the automotive industry. SCC55™ has been proven in EV applications to date, including Molicel’s ultra-high-power P50B lithium-ion battery cells, where its breakthrough performance enables double the power density and half the charge times of traditional lithium-ion batteries.
As SCC55™ enters production lines for more vehicles and products, its capacity to enable radically fast charging will mark a fundamental shift for many battery-dependent industries, allowing us to live more untethered lives. Beyond that, ensuring that fast charging reaches large-scale reality may be the necessary catalyst to alleviate consumer concerns around charge anxiety and accelerate the automotive industry’s efforts to electrify.
Catalyzing a more electrified and connected world
Our energy systems are undergoing a renaissance: The AI era, with its massive demand for computing power, is quickly emerging as one of the most energy-intensive sectors across the globe. As edge computing continues to grow and AI moves to the edge, silicon batteries will be the key to powering the sector’s rapid growth. Beyond that, the growing accessibility of silicon batteries will shepherd in a new era of innovations — from life-changing wearable technology to decarbonized transportation in the sky — allowing engineers and innovators to create in entirely new ways.
Whether we’re talking about data centers and edge computing or mobility on the ground, SCC55™ balances performance, fast charging, and availability — making all these things a reality today. Decades from now, when gas stations have been repurposed into EV charging stations and our smartphones are relics alongside fax machines and phone booths, we believe silicon batteries will be the platform upon which future innovations are built.
