The automotive group Stellantis has announced today an agreement with the American company Factorial Energy for the development of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.
WHAT ARE SOLID-STATE BATTERIES
The most widespread battery technology for electric cars is lithium-ion batteries. Solid-state batteries – so called because of the electrolyte, which is solid – however, promise better performance in terms of lifespan and charging times, as well as greater safety: they in fact have a higher energy density and are not flammable, given the absence of liquid electrolyte.
Manufacturing solid-state batteries is technically complex – the difficulty lies in ensuring sufficient and constant contact between the solid electrolyte and the positive and negative electrodes – and their production is still very expensive. Nevertheless, many car manufacturers are investing in their development: for example Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, NIO and – indeed – Stellantis.
WHAT TAVARES SAID
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said, referring to the agreement with Factorial, that “initiatives like this will speed up the time-to-market,” that is the commercialization of a technology, “and a more affordable transition to solid-state technology.”
Last July Stellantis said it wanted to introduce the first competitive solid-state battery technology to the market by 2026.
WHAT FACTORIAL DOES
Factorial Energy is an American company – headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts – that has developed solid-state batteries offering a driving range per charge 20-50 percent higher than traditional lithium-ion batteries.
The company has developed its own technology on solid electrolytes (called FEST, from Factorial Electrolyte System Technology) successfully tested in 40 ampere-hour electrochemical cells and compatible with most existing machinery for lithium-ion batteries.
Factorial told Bloomberg that its batteries reach an energy density of 350 watt-hours per kilo, but the goal is to reach 400 Wh/kg: for comparison, Tesla’s best lithium-ion batteries reach 300 Wh/kg. Factorial’s batteries can also be fully charged in one hour and complete 460 charge-discharge cycles before their capacity drops below 80 percent.
FACTORIAL’S PARTNERSHIPS
Besides Stellantis, Factorial has already formed partnerships on solid-state batteries with Mercedes-Benz (Daimler group), Hyundai and Kia.
WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS OF FACTORIAL
Siyu Huang, co-founder and CEO of Factorial, described the agreement with Stellantis as a “great honor” and an “incredible opportunity” for the development of the company’s technologies.
The other founder is Alex Yu.
The two met during their studies at Cornell University, in the state of New York.
Huang earned here, in 2012, a PhD in Chemistry. Before entering the battery industry, she worked for Johnson & Johnson from 2014 to 2017.
Yu, instead, is chairman of Factorial. He also earned a PhD in Chemistry at Cornell, in 2014.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND INVESTORS
The Factorial board of directors includes Joe Taylor (former president and CEO of Panasonic North America), Dieter Zetsche (former chairman of Daimler), and Mark Fields (former CEO of Ford).
Last April the company – which had not yet formed partnerships with any car manufacturer – told Bloomberg it had a “capital commitment” of 40 million dollars, mainly from the British fund Gatemore Capital Management and the American WAVE Equity Partners fund.
