Solid Power announced this morning it has secured $130 million in a recently completed a Series B investment round. The funding round was led by two major auto manufacturers, BMW and Ford.
Regarded as an industry leading producer of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), Solid Power will be able to produce full-scale automotive batteries and expand their in-house production capabilities.
With the investment by BMW and Ford, both automakers have plans to utilize Solid Power’s batteries in their upcoming EV offerings.
“BMW and Ford now share leading positions in the race for all solid-state battery-powered electric vehicles,” said Doug Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power. “Solid Power now plans to begin producing automotive-scale batteries on the company’s pilot production line in early 2022 as a result of our partners’ continued commitment to Solid Power’s commercialization efforts.”
Their investment follows validation late last year of hundreds of Solid Power’s battery cells that showed they can provide longer range at a lower cost than compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
“Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that’s why we’re investing directly,” said Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of Electrification Subsystems and Power Supply Research. “By simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we’ll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume, deliver lower costs and better value for customers and more efficiently integrate this kind of solid-state battery cell technology into existing lithium-ion cell production processes.”
Solid Power says BMW and Ford will receive full-scale 100 ampere hour (Ah) cells for testing and vehicle integration beginning next year. The company expects them to be have higher energy densities, be safer, and cost less than today’s batteries.
