News

May 20, 2016

XG Sciences Receives DOE Grant for Silicon-Graphene Anode Technology

Michigan-based XG Sciences has received a DOE Round 2 small business award for $150,000, which it will use to support its efforts to develop low-cost manufacturing of a silicon-graphene composite anode. One goal for the new anode type is to reduce the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI). The […]
May 18, 2016

Tesla Considers LG Chem, Samsung SDI, & SK Innovation For Batteries

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” my old Irish grandmother liked to say. Tesla Motors is following her advice when it comes to who will supply it with batteries for its cars and energy storage products. Even though Panasonic is a major partner in the Gigafactory currently under […]
May 2, 2016

LG Chem to License Optodot’s Boehmite Ceramic-Coated Battery Separators

Optodot Corporation has granted a license to LG Chem for batteries, cells, separators and electrolyte members comprising boehmite, an aluminum oxide hydroxide mineral. The license permits LG Chem to use boehmite separator films for lithium-ion batteries. “Boehmite ceramic coating layers offer a number of distinct benefits in lithium-ion batteries, including […]
April 28, 2016

Daimler Starts Selling Home Energy Storage Units

Daimler AG, in conjunction with its subsidiary Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE, has begun deliveries of its first home energy storage systems, following months of successful commercial deliveries. The lithium-ion, battery-based home energy storage units — which are being manufactured by Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE — are based on the technologies developed for use in […]
April 28, 2016

Daimler Starts Selling Home Energy Storage Units

Daimler AG, in conjunction with its subsidiary Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE, has begun deliveries of its first home energy storage systems, following months of successful commercial deliveries. The lithium-ion, battery-based home energy storage units — which are being manufactured by Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE — are based on the technologies developed for use in […]
April 25, 2016

How Much Storage Does Tesla Expect to Sell to SolarCity in 2016?

GTM Research uncovered some fascinating tidbits in an otherwise mundane 14A proxy statement from Tesla — including just how much energy storage Tesla expects to sell to SolarCity this year. In a new, free research note, published today, GTM Research estimates that Tesla will sell 168.5 megawatt-hours of energy storage […]
April 8, 2016

Chinese Researchers Develop Aluminum-Graphite Dual-Ion Battery

A team from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a novel, environmentally friendly low-cost battery. In “A Novel Aluminum-Graphite Dual-Ion Battery,” published in Advanced Energy Materials, Yongbing Tang and colleagues present a new aluminum-graphite dual-ion battery (AGDIB) that they say offers higher energy […]
April 7, 2016

Stanford Team Develops Li-Metal Anodes

Lithium-metal anodes are the favored solution for next-generation Li-air or Li-sulfur batteries for various reasons, including their high specific capacity (theoretically tenfold higher than graphite). However, safety issues resulting from dendrite formation and instability caused by volume expansion have slowed the development of commercially viable solutions. In “Composite lithium metal […]
April 1, 2016

ORNL Seeks US Manufacturers to License New Carbon Fiber Process

Researchers at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a production method that they estimate will reduce the cost of carbon fiber by as much as 50% and the energy used in its production by more than 60%. After analysis and prototyping by industrial partners, ORNL is making the […]
March 31, 2016

Researchers Use Superionic Conductors as Electrolytes for Solid-State Batteries

Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Toyota and two other research institutions, have designed and tested solid-state batteries using a novel type of solid electrolyte. In “High-power all-solid-state batteries using sulfide superionic conductors,” published in Nature Energy, Yuki Kato and team members explain the advantages of […]
March 21, 2016

Porsche Considers Bosch, Panasonic to Supply EV Batteries

An electric Porsche based on the Mission E concept shown at the Frankfurt auto show is in the production pipeline, and the company is considering bids from Panasonic and Robert Bosch to supply the battery, Bloomberg reports. According to anonymous sources, Panasonic’s package would be cheaper, but Porsche’s neighbor Bosch […]
March 15, 2016

A Closer Look at Electrolytes in Advanced Batteries

The electrolytes in advanced batteries are based on incredibly complicated formulations. If you calculated all of the possible combinations of solvents, salts and additives while trying to find the optimal ratios for just one electrolyte formulation, it would add up to an extraordinary number of possibilities. Because it plays such […]