Ampcera, a solid-state electrolyte manufacturing and solid-state battery development company, has reached a new milestone for its all-solid-state battery technology, achieving 80% state of charge in under 15 minutes.
That achievement is considered extremely fast for lithium batteries in the electric vehicle industry. The benchmark comes from the Department of Energy, which targeted fast-charging of 0% to 80% state of charge (SOC) in under 15 minutes at a peak C-rate of 4C. The announcement signals good news for the electric vehicle industry and the fast-charging power of ASSB technology.
The technology consists of IP-protected sulfide solid-state electrolyte materials, and a high-capacity NMC cathode and a silicon-based anode are used to achieve a high energy density goal of 400 watt-hours per kilogram. There is no liquid or semi-solid electrolyte, which is better for battery safety during rapid charging cycles.
The technology also showed less than 5% capacity decay after 300 cycles of repeated fast charging (4C peak C-rate), meaning the charge cycle has a long life of greater than 1,000 cycles in commercial cells once fully developed, Ampcera said.
The news comes as the EV industry faces significant barriers when it comes to infrastructure. Charging station infrastructure is one major challenge for Americans to purchase an EV, according to recent surveys. In fact, “range anxiety,” or the fear that an EV will run out of battery on the road, has put many people off from adopting an EV lifestyle.
But fast-charging stations and new technology may help put some minds at ease by making EVs more convenient to use. At the same time, the Biden administration has pledged to increase the number of public charging stations from 100,000 to 500,000.
Ampcera plans to advance its plans to develop and commercialize its ASSB technology through strategic partnerships with industry leaders.
“Ampcera’s high-performance solid-state electrolyte materials have propelled ASSB technology beyond the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s ambitious fast-charging benchmark of achieving an 80% charge in under 15 minutes,” Sumin Zhu, co-founder and CEO of Ampcera, said in a statement. “Our primary objective is to introduce a commercially viable fast-charging ASSB technology that addresses consumer charge anxiety caused by extended wait times at charging stations.”
Ampcera received a $2.1 million grant from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy as part of the EVs4ALL program last year.
