Porsche Bet: Lithium-Ion-Carbon Battery Startup

https://twitter.com/TaylorOgan/status/1521967479802798083

With its first electric vehicle now outselling the quintessential 911 sports car, the German automaker is responding by upping its bet on EVs, in part via a hefty investment in lithium-silicon battery developer Group14 Technologies.

Porsche injected $100 million into Group14 as part of a larger $400 million Series C funding round. Other investors that chipped in include Canadian pension fund OMERS, Decarbonization Partners, private equity firm Riverstone, Vsquared Ventures and Moore Strategic Ventures.

Group14’s key technology is a silicon-carbon powder that can either replace or augment graphite anodes. Graphite is used in most of today’s lithium-ion batteries, and it’s a sensible anode because it’s stable and can store a reasonable amount of energy.

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https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/04/porsche-joins-400m-bet-on-…

Group14 is one of many startups racing to develop silicon-based anodes that can be repeatedly charged and discharged without breaking down. To do that, the company infuses a porous carbon scaffold with a silicon-containing gas. The end result is a carbon compound that’s peppered with nanoscale silicon particles. Those particles serve to grab hold of lithium ions while the carbon scaffold serves as a stable structure so the anode doesn’t decompose as it’s used.

Group14 says that its carbon-silicon material can be blended with graphite anodes, too, and that it can be dropped into an existing battery production line with few modifications.

The startup claims that its SCC55 material can store 50% more energy than traditional graphite anodes. It has one battery materials plant online currently and has two more in the works, one a joint venture with SK Group that’s coming online later this year and another that’ll start producing in 2023. Group14 appears to be targeting production for Porsche battery packs in 2024.

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Oh boy, the South Korean Group is involved. Same group is leading hydrogen infrastructure for H2 cars in South Korea. I cannot wait to see what kind of charging times we’ll see with this and how much more juice can be squeezed into the same battery space after tests are run at Independent labs and car magazines:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/04/porsche-joins-400m-bet-on-…

The startup claims that its SCC55 material can store 50% more energy than traditional graphite anodes. It has one battery materials plant online currently and has two more in the works, one a joint venture with SK Group that’s coming online later this year and another that’ll start producing in 2023. Group14 appears to be targeting production for Porsche battery packs in 2024.