Solid Power, a producer of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, said on Monday that it hopes to begin shipping pre-production battery cells by the end of the year for validation testing by partners BMW and Ford Motor. Solid Power’s chief executive and co-founder, Doug Campbell, said in an interview that the Colorado company has put up a pilot production line to deliver validation samples to automakers while looking for a manufacturing partner to begin producing its cells as early as 2026.

One potential partner, he added, is Korea’s SK Innovation, which is constructing joint-venture battery operations in Tennessee and Kentucky with Ford.

“Long term, we do not endeavor to be a cell producer,” he said.

Solid Power has the pilot production capacity to give prototype battery cells to other car manufacturers, according to Campbell, but he declined to provide specifics.

Hyundai and Samsung, as well as Ford and BMW, made early investments in the company, which went public through a reverse merger in 2021.

Campbell recognises the fierce competition in solid-state battery research among the “big boys” – companies such as Toyota, Panasonic, Samsung, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai, and CATL.

“We’re in a space among a lot of very prominent and credible players,” he said.

Solid Power’s battery cell, like that of the majority of those businesses, uses a sulfide-based solid-state electrolyte as the medium through which lithium ions travel between positive and negative electrodes during charging and discharging.

Battery cells with solid-state electrolytes are much less likely to catch fire due to internal shorts than those with liquid electrolytes.

Solid Power’s cells, which now use silicon-rich anodes and nickel-cobalt-manganese cathodes, have the potential to carry more energy, providing electric vehicles with a longer range, while costing less than standard lithium-ion batteries, according to Campbell.

Solid Power’s solid-state cells are also designed to be compatible with current lithium-ion production processes.

(Adapted from GadgetsNow.com)