Up to 2000 km range: German researchers crack the super battery...

from Tobias Stahl am 16.11.2020

A new breakthrough in the battery race? The German Fraunhofer Institutes have developed a new battery technology in cooperation with the independent research organization The Netherlands Organization. This should enable much larger ranges and much shorter loading times.

The new battery technology, which the Fraunhofer Institutes have developed together with The Netherlands Organization, is intended to enable electric cars to have a range of well over 1,000 kilometers and to be combined with a wide variety of battery types. The development of the technology has progressed so far that the parties involved have founded a company that is supposed to promote the industrial mass production of the technology, reports the industry magazine Automobilwoche.

The name of this newly founded company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is SALD BV and is derived from the name of the patented process: SALD stands for “Spatial Atom Layer Deposition” and describes a process with which so-called atomic coatings, i.e. ultra-thin, only one atom thick Coatings can be applied to electric car batteries.

also read

This coating is intended to transform the accumulators into real super batteries: “SALD batteries not only offer three times more range for e-cars than today’s battery cells, but can also be charged five times faster,” says the newly founded company. This means that an electric car could be charged to around 80 percent in ten minutes and fully charged in 20 minutes. According to its own statement, the company has already attracted the curiosity of many investors. In addition, talks are already being held with car manufacturers whose names SALD does not want to mention yet.

The SALD batteries are a further development of today’s lithium-ion technology. The ultra-thin coating creates a so-called “Artificial Solid-Electrolyte Interphase” (A-SEI), which is said to be significantly more efficient than previous SEI. This should not only have a positive effect on the capacity and charging speed, but also on durability and safety.

According to the company, the technology should also be used in the solid-state batteries expected in the near future. In general, the atom-thin surface coating should work on all cathode materials that are currently in the consideration, testing or production phase of battery manufacturers – for example, Tesla’s new lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are used in Model 3.

also read

SALD boss Frank Verhage promises that “an e-car can drive well over 1000 kilometers with smaller batteries or even over 2000 kilometers with larger battery packs without recharging” if the car has an SALD battery. It is not about theoretical range records, but about a battery suitable for everyday use that still has at least 20 to 30 percent remaining charge after 1,000 kilometers, even with a sporty, dynamic driving style and air conditioning or heating, explains Verhage. According to the company’s boss, the first cars will be equipped with the new batteries from 2022. The company has not yet provided any information on the ‘million dollar question’ about the price range.

SALD BV says it already has all the necessary patents and has manufacturing machines for small series in operation. In the future, the technology will also be used in other battery-based electronic devices: For example, the SALD batteries could be used to build smartphones that only need to be charged once a week.