American LFP cells for stationary batteries Our guest for today's episode is John S. Kem, President of American Battery Factory. ABF is currently building up a 4-GWh LFP gigafactory in Tucson, Arizona. A business approach, you wouldnt necessarily see in Europe. Asking John Kem about strong Chinese battery cell competitors such as BYD or CATL doesn't upset him much: The market for lithium-iron phosphate cells is growing largely within the US. Plus, in times of America-First politics the need for a domestic battery cell production seems to be substantial. So why not ramp-up an LFP line in Arizon ..read more

Podcast on modeling of battery packs How battery modeling saves unnecessary investments and time! Today, we are talking to Gavin White (CEO About:Energy), a #battery software company from London. About:Energy operates an interesting business model! (1) The startup is testing numerous commercially available battery cells in order to publish reliable data for European OEMs. Prior to a purchase deal between a car OEM and a cell manufacturer, About:Energy's data is an important external opinion, checking the battery's datasheet. The cell library "Voltt" serves as a cell library, battery producers ..read more

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Podcast on All-Solid-State Batteries Battery manufacturers around the world have been announcing solid-state cells for its groundbreaking characteristics. Yes, we see multiple outstanding (almost-) solid-state lab cells (some of which are already on the market!) but the high expectations have never really met reality: Not a single car manufacturer is currently placing all-solid-state cells in their EVs. So, whats taking them so long? Our podcast guest Prof. Jennifer Rupp researches solid state materials for sustainable energy storage and conversion. Her research on batteries is currently cente ..read more

Podcast on hybrid batteries & supercaps This podcast episode deals with an energy storage technology that is still underestimated in materials science: Hybrid battery supercaps. Supercaps are installed, for example, for regenerative braking (recuperation) in vehicles such as buses, trains, cranes and trains. These powerful energy storage systems are also found in wind turbines. Now, the Estonian company Skeleton Technologies invented a new hybrid form of "battery supercaps". Dr. Sebastian Pohlmann is Vice President of Business Development at Skeleton Technologies. Skeleton is a developer a ..read more

The secret of a long-living battery Our podcast guest for this episode is Prof. David Howey. He is a British Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford and holds a Tutorial Fellow at St Hilda’s College. His research is focused on modelling and managing energy storage systems, for electric vehicles (EVs) as well as grid and off-grid power systems. Battery state of health (SOH) is a measurement that indicates the level of degradation and remaining capacity of the battery. Expressed in a simple way, it describes the difference between the health of a new battery and the health o ..read more

Podcast on future cheap, sustainable materials New battery materials must indisputably improve sustainability standards with respect to mining, transport, processing and recycling. This is where "multivalent batteries" come into play! Multivalent batteries are electrochemical storage technologies that employ "multivalent ions", e.g., Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Al3+ as the active charge carrier in the battery electrolytes as well as in the battery anodes & cathodes. Materials such as magnesium, calcium, zinc or aluminum are much more abundant compared to materials inside a traditional lithium-ion ba ..read more

Podcast on Charging Stations in Europe Fastned is a Dutch company that operates a network of over 100 EV charging stations in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland. A large majority of its stations are located at Dutch highway rest areas. Roland van der Put is Fastned's Head of Charging Technology. In this podcast he explains why Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and France are making such great process - and why other countries are not. Van der Put displays the interaction between the charger, EV batteries and the onboard battery management system ..read more

Podcast on green battery materials This is a follow-up podcast of Prof. Passerini's previous talk on Sodium Ion Batteries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ9CrTnYLA Momentum is on the side of Sodium Ion Batteries! As prices are rising for lithium ion battery materials, such as Nickel, Cobalt and Lithium among a few others, demand for alternative materials is getting louder. The first manufacturers (CATL, Tiamat, Faradion, Natron Energy) all claim to have found a unique way of substituting lithium ion batteries with SIB cell chemistry. In fact, these batteries dont show any great downsides at ..read more

Podcast on an interesting anode battery material Our guest Dr. Doron Myersdorf is one of the founders of StoreDot, an Israeli developer of lithium-ion batteries. When researching StoreDot as a company, one cannot get past the profound history of breakthrough announcements claiming to have developed disruptive battery materials. These battery materials were supposedly able of being rechargeable within a few minutes by 2020, latest. Plus, performance, capacity, lifespan, safety, sustainability and prices pointed out great research results. Unfortunately, the company's plans were thwarted time an ..read more