Solid Power – More Money from BMW, Ford, Volta Energy Technologies for Solid-State EV Batteries

Promising, but mass-producible?

Solid Power, a maker of all solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, today announced a $130 million Series B investment round by the BMW Group, Ford Motor Company and Volta Energy Technologies. Ford and BMW Group enlarged existing development agreements with Solid Power to buy all solid-state batteries for future electric vehicles. Ford and the BMW Group are now equal equity owners. Representatives from each company will join Solid Power’s board.

Of the three companies in the new agreement, BMW Group is the clear leader in electrification. Its Neue Klasse presented in March said this new generation of vehicles, due by the middle of this decade, will be “uncompromisingly electric, digital, circular – and clearly focused on all-electric drivetrains.” As auto industry observers well know, the road from test labs, to concepts, to prototypes, to successful mass production of a vehicle is littered with road kills of technological promises. (All-Electric BMW i4 Shown, Q1 Financial Results of BMW Exceed Market Expectations)

With the Neue Klasse, the BMW Group aims at the level of state-of-the-art internal combustion engines in terms of range and manufacturing costs. Electric mobility “engineered by BMW” is intended to appeal to and convince new groups of buyers worldwide. For this sixth generation of BMW e‑drive technology, with the next level of lithium-ion batteries, the company vaguely says it will look at different cell formats, cell chemistry and also cell modules that are in current development. As auto industry observers well know, the road from test labs, to concepts, to prototypes, to successful mass production of a vehicle is littered with road kills of technological promises.

The investment positions, claims Solid Power, allows it to produce full-scale automotive batteries, increase associated material output and expand in-house production capabilities for future vehicle integration. The BMW Group and Ford aim to utilize Solid Power’s low-cost, high-energy all solid-state battery technology in forthcoming electric vehicles. Solid Power’s all solid-state platform technology allows for the production of unique cell designs expected to meet performance requirements for each automotive partner. Solid Power’s truly all-solid cell designs achieve higher energy densities, are safer and are projected to cost less than today’s best-performing lithium-ion battery cells.

“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,” said Doug Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power. It also claimed that the delivery of hundreds of production line-produced battery cells was “validated by Ford and BMW Group late last year, formalizing Solid Power’s commercialization plans with its two long-standing automotive partners.”

Solid Power is now producing 20 ampere hour (Ah) multi-layer all solid-state batteries on the company’s continuous roll-to-roll production line, which uses industry standard lithium-ion production processes and equipment. Both Ford and the BMW Group will receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022. Solid Power’s all solid-state platform technology allows for the production of unique cell designs expected to meet performance requirements for each automotive partner. Solid Power’s truly all-solid cell designs achieve higher energy densities, are safer and are expected to cost less than today’s best-performing lithium-ion battery cells. (Ford Ion Park – New Global Battery R&D Site in Michigan)

“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, a venture capital firm spun out of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory focused on investing in breakthrough energy storage and battery innovations.