Solid-state battery company plans pilot plant in California
Solid-State Battery battery company, Blue Current, has named its new CEO, Ben Eiref. And at the same time Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP) has invested USD 30 million to accelerate commercialisation of the company’s technology and build its first megawatt-scale factory in California.
In 2016, Blue Current thought of combining the mechanical elasticity and adhesive capabilities of polymers with the ionic conductivity of glass ceramics to maximise safety, temperature, performance, and scalability. In 2018 the company used this approach to create a fully dry solid-state battery with a high silicon content anode to increase energy density. The company refers to this combination of properties together as a “silicon elastic composite” battery.
"Customers want completely safe batteries with a big boost in capacity and performance,” says Ben Eiref, Blue Current CEO in a press release. “Through independent validation, we have demonstrated that our silicon elastic composite solid-state cells are resistant to fire and provide high energy density and long cycle life. Now we’re focused on scaling the technology and furthering innovations that improve system-level energy density. This is a critical enabler for our customers to build lighter and more space efficient electric vehicles and consumer electronics.”
The Company is still in early-stage testing with automotive customers and says it will expand to consumer electronics and other market segments. In Hayward, California, Blue Current is utilising a 22,000-square-foot production-ready facility with wet and dry labs, battery cycling and high-bay logistics space.
“Solid-state battery technology will play a pivotal role in global energy transformation,” says Jeremy Bezdek, managing director for KSP in the press release. “Our extensive diligence indicated that Blue Current has an advantaged intellectual property position that has the potential to be disruptive in the solid-state battery space.”
Ben Eiref, the company's new CEO brings with him decades of experience building new businesses in the electric vehicle and technology industries. He is the former Worldwide Head of Automotive Solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he started the company’s cloud solution business supporting autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.
