Is Next Battery Advance Not In Chemistry But Fabrication? - Green Car Reports
Legions of researchers are trying to improve on the currently-dominant lithium-ion chemistry, hoping to increase energy density and lower cost. A Boston-area startup believes it can revolutionize lithium-ion batteries by changing the way they're made. When it starts commercial sales in two years, 24M believes it can cut the cost of a battery-manufacturing plant nearly ten-fold. It currently costs at least $100 million to put an entry-level lithium-ion cell fabrication plant into operation. Tesla Motors' Nevada "Gigafactory"--billed as the biggest lithium-ion plant in the world--will cost an estimated $5 billion. The company was started in 2010 by Yet-Ming Chiang, an MIT professor and founder of A123 Systems--the manufacturer that supplied cells to Fisker Automotive before going bankrupt in 2012. ALSO SEE: Quant F Electric Luxury Limo With Flow Cell... Apparently not content with starting one cell maker, Chiang rounded up $12. 5 million in private and Federal funding for 24M, and went to work on flow-cell batteries. Researchers built several standard lithium-ion batteries. Source: www.greencarreports.com
