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Breakthrough Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles

Breakthrough:
Planar Energy has developed a breakthrough in large format lithium-ion batteries that uses solid state electrolytes, rather than liquid electrolytes, allowing battery capacity to increase 2-3 times, while lowering manufacturing costs by 50 percent.

Business:
Planar Energy, United States

The Story:
Planar Energy has developed a breakthrough in large format lithium-ion batteries that uses solid state electrolytes within the battery, rather than the liquid electrolytes used in current technology.

The solid state technology should lead to reduced costs and better performance in electric vehicle batteries, data that was verified by the University of Central Florida's Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC).

Planar Energy's CEO Scott Faris, went as far as to say their materials breakthrough, combined with their low-cost manufacturing process, will make traditional chemical batteries obsolete.

Manufacturers will be able to increase battery capacity 2 to 3 times, while reducing costs by more than 50 percent – figures the automotive industry needs to make electric vehicles practical and affordable.

To read more on their technological breakthrough, visit the Planar Energy website and read the March 1, 2010 Press Release.

Since announcing their innovative breakthrough in March, the Department of Energy has selected Planar as one of four companies to collaborate in a DOE research and development initiative to examine energy storage challenges relating to lithium-based batteries.

The program initially supplied $400,000 to help commercialize the solid-state battery technology, and in late April, the DOE awarded $4 million to Planar to accelerate its transformational energy project that will encourage the adoption of hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

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