On February 16, Amprius in the United States announced the shipment of the
first commercialized 450Wh/kg (1150Wh/L) lithium-ion battery cells, which will
be used in a new generation of high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS), which are
currently available in batteries. Lithium battery with the highest energy
density.
According to the company, these are the "world's highest density"
commercial battery cells, and "the deployment of disruptive cells in advanced
aerospace applications affirms Amprius as the leading supplier of the highest
energy density batteries available".
A key to achieving this result is Amprius' silicon anode (Si-Nanowire
platform), which on November 8, 2021, announced a 405Wh/kg battery that achieved
an energy density of 450Wh/kg in just a few months. In December, the company
said its 370Wh/kg version could charge from 0 to 80 percent in about six
minutes.
Jon Bornstein, Chief Operating Officer of Ampris Technologies, said, "This
advancement from the 405Wh/kg product previously announced on November 8, 2021
underscores our path to delivering products with unparalleled performance. The
acceleration of the graph. Our proprietary Si-NanowireTM platform and the
comprehensive solutions we have developed achieve unparalleled performance and
continue our product leadership."
Currently, Amprius manufactures battery cells on a limited scale at its
factory in Fremont, California. Later in the quarter, the company intends to
select a location for its first high-volume manufacturing facility in the United
States.
The company didn't say what its manufacturing capabilities would be or
whether high-energy-density battery cells would make their way into electric
vehicles. Tesla's Elon Musk said in 2020 that a battery cell with an energy
density of 400Wh/kg can be achieved in only 3-4 years, that is, 2023-2024, which
will greatly reduce the weight of the battery.
Tesla's Model 3 battery is currently the most advanced, with an energy
density of only 260 Wh/kg (730 Wh/L), according to Enpower. By weight, the
Amprius lithium battery packs 73 percent more energy than the Tesla Model 3
battery while being 37 percent smaller.
SES Power has been paying attention to the latest technological development
of lithium batteries, because we believe that cell technology is essentially the
key to promoting the widespread application of lithium batteries. However, how
the new lithium-ion technology participates in the market and makes a profit
becomes the key to its commercial application. SES Power has nearly 20 years of
experience in energy storage power stations, energy storage systems, energy
storage lithium batteries, inverters, photovoltaic power generation and other
products, and has launched 12V100Ah, 12V200Ah, 24V100Ah, 24V200Ah, 36V100Ah,
48V50Ah, 48V100Ah, etc., 12V30Ah, 12V50Ah car starter batteries using
high-performance rate lithium battery A123 (the maximum peak current can reach
1500A). It can be said sincerely that the competition in the market of secondary
rechargeable batteries is very high, especially for consumer or special
industries, the energy density requirements of batteries are very high. The
following is a simple comparison of the weight of lithium battery packs under
different energy densities by senior engineers from SES Power:
The energy density of EV battery cells at 400Wh/kg (compared to
260Wh/kg):
75 kWh: 188 kg battery (288 kg);
100 kWh: 250 kg battery (384 kg);
150 kWh: 375 kg of battery (577 kg);
200 kWh: 500 kg battery (770 kg).
This technology has attracted more than $100 million in financing as early
as 2020. Investors include KPCB, the largest US venture capital firm, Trident
Investments, VantagePoint Investments, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt,
Innovation Endeavors, SAIF Partners,etc.
In addition, it is reported that Amprius has a very close relationship with
Tesla, and its location is near Tesla’s battery manufacturing factory and secret
battery laboratory, and even moved the office to Tesla’s battery laboratory.
Hold Battery Day at the facility.
