Bosch, the German electronics giant, is making a strong showing at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA), and showing off its solid-state Li-ion battery technology. It recently acquired Seeo, Inc., an American startup that has been developing such a battery for several years, and will add Seeo’s research to its own expertise and exclusive patents. Encouragingly, the company says it will be able to double the energy density of Li-ion batteries while cutting prices by half. Perhaps discouragingly, Bosch says this will take until 2020 to bring to production. Green Car Congress quotes Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management for Robert Bosch GmbH, claiming a breakthrough. “Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility. Solid-state cells could be a breakthrough technology. Disruptive start-up technology is meeting the broad systems knowledge and financial resources of a multinational company.” Coupling the acquisition with its 30 production projects “related to electromobility,” Bosch has been …
The Magnificent Seven Ride Again
SolidEnergy is an MIT spin-off with a lithium battery that’s been touted by R&D Magazine as “potentially…the biggest breakthrough in battery technology since Sony introduced the first Li-ion battery in 1991.” Unlike other manufacturers with indefinite product dates, SolidEnergy says it will release a 2 Amp-hour smartphone and wearable battery in 2016 and a 20 Ah electric vehicle battery in 2017. SolidEnergy claims their Solid Polymer Ionic Liquid (SPIL) electrolyte enables creation of an “ultra-thin lithium metal anode, and improves the cell-level energy density by 50 percent compared to graphite anodes and 30 percent compared to silicon-composite anodes.” The electrolyte adds non-flammability and non-volatility, operating safely at temperatures up to 300° C. We reported on this company last year when Dr. Qichao Hu, CEO and Chief Technology Officer of SolidEnergy, spoke at the eighth Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California. Dr. Hu led a team of six associates in developing SolidEnergy Systems’ Solid Polymer Ionic Liquid (SPiL) rechargeable lithium …
EAS VIII: Ultra High Energy Density Lithium Battery
Qichao Hu is Cofounder, President and interim CEO of SolidEnergy, a battery company with a different technology and a unique business plan. According to his company’s web site, he “Cofounded SolidEnergy while a PhD student at MIT, and led it through early stage business plan competition, fundraising, licensing and collaboration negotiation, and technology development. 2012 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy, and is a graduate of MIT and Harvard University.” His team was also the Deployment and Infrastructure Category Winner in the 2012 MIT Clean Energy Prize competition. In his presentation to the eighth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium on April 25, Hu told about his Waltham, Massachusetts startup’s strategic partnership with A123, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. The firm’s laboratory and intellectual depth enables creating a battery that is safer, lighter and smaller, as Hu told attendees at the Symposium. Solid Energy Systems Corp. is now affiliated with A123 Venture Technologies Corp. This allows Hu and his …
EAS VIII – A Day and a Half You’ll Never Forget
Who would pass up a chance to stay at a nice resort, attend lectures that challenge and inspire, and meet at poolside with speakers who bring some of the sharpest minds in the world to bear on some of the biggest problems we all face? Let’s face it. Global warming probably won’t be going away anytime soon, and aviation seems destined to play a bigger part in polluting our otherwise near-perfect atmosphere. Unless…we learn how to make our favorite activity (in the top five for most of us, anyway), into a more responsible way to travel and recreate. Since solving the problems which go with that responsibility will involve the best in aerodynamics, power systems and new, efficient technology, the CAFE Foundation has invited experts in these fields with demonstrated successes in meeting such challenges. To be held April 25 and 26, 2014 at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, California, the event will host speakers on everything from practical, …