Solid Power Raises $130 Million, Ford & BMW Expands Partnership

Solid Power, maker of all-solid-state rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) has announced raising USD 130 million in investmentments in its Series B. The investment was led by three giants including, Ford Motor Company, BMW Group, and Volta Energy Technologies.

Interestingly, Ford and BMW have also extended their partnership into Solid Power to secure and utilize the low-cost, high-energy all-solid-state batteries for their EVs in the future. The investment provides Solid Power to produce full-scale automotive all-solid-state batteries, increase material output and expand in-house production capabilities for future BMW and Ford EV integration.

Speaking of the investment and developments, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power, Doug Campbell noted, “BMW and Ford now share leading positions in the race for all-solid-state battery-powered electric vehicles.” He added, “Solid Power now plans to begin producing automotive-scale batteries on the company’s pilot production line in early 2022 as a result of our partners’ continued commitment to Solid Power’s commercialization efforts.”

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Solid Power claims of currently producing 20 ampere hour (Ah) multi-layer all-solid-state batteries on the company’s continuous roll-to-roll production line, which exclusively utilizes industry standard lithium-ion production processes and equipment.

Solid Power has proved its ability to produce and scale next-generation all-solid-state batteries that are created to power longer range, lower cost, and safer EVs using existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure.

Talking on the partnership, the Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, Development, Frank Weber says, “The development of all-solid-state batteries is one of the most promising and important steps towards more efficient, sustainable, and safer electric vehicles. We now have taken our next step on this path with Solid Power. Together we have developed a 20 Ah all-solid-state cell that is absolutely outstanding in this field.”

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Both the automobile giants, Ford and the BMW Group will receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022.

Explaining the need for the technology, “Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that’s why we’re investing directly. By simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we’ll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume, deliver lower costs and better value for customers, and more efficiently integrate this kind of solid-state battery cell technology into existing lithium-ion cell production processes,” says Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of Electrification Subsystems and Power Supply Research.

“Volta invested early in Solid Power when our team of energy and commercialization experts found they had not only promising technology but also a fundamental focus on manufacturability. After all, a breakthrough battery will not find a place in the market if it can’t be produced at scale with acceptable costs,” said Dr. Jeff Chamberlain, CEO of Volta Energy Technologies.