A Battery Breakthrough That Could Bring Electric Cars To The Masses

A startup called Envia Systems, working on battery technology says it’s developed a key breakthrough technology that could one day lead to an electric car that has a 300-mile range and could cost around $25,000 to $30,000. Envia Systems announced test results that verify the company’s next-generation rechargeable battery has achieved the highest recorded energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/kg) for a rechargeable lithium-ion cell.
When commercialized,this 400 Wh/kg battery is expected to slash the price of a 300­mile range electric vehicle by cutting the cost of the battery pack by more than 50 percent.

Energy density is how much energy a battery can store and provide for the car with a given battery size — the more energy dense the battery, the less volume and weight is needed. For electric cars it is particularly important to have a high energy dense battery because electric cars need to be as light weight as possible (any extra weight just drains the battery faster), and batteries that are smaller and use less materials can also be lower in cost.

“Since the inception of Envia, our product team has worked tirelessly and logged over 25 million test channel hours to optimally develop each of the active components of the battery: Envia’s proprietary SiC anode, HCMR cathode and EHV electrolyte,” said Dr.Sujeet Kumar, Envia Systems co-founder, president & CTO. “Rather than just a proof-of-concept of energy density, I am pleased that our team was successful in actually delivering 00 Wh/kg automotive grade 45 Ah lithium-ion rechargeable cells.”