By Paul Lienert
(Reuters) – Electric vehicle battery startup Group14 has raised $400 million from an investor organization led by Germany’s Porsche, the company said on Wednesday.
Some of that money, which brings Group14’s valuation to more than a billion dollars, will be used to build a momentary battery fabric plant near the one the company already has in Woodinville, near Seattle, Chief Executive Rick Luebbe said in an interview.
Luebbe described the company’s carbon and silicon anode curtains as a “transformational technology” that will allow electric vehicle batteries to recharge faster and conserve more energy than those using graphite.
Most lithium-ion batteries in today’s electric cars use graphite anodes, which basically come from China, with smaller amounts from Canada and Japan.
Because Group14’s carbon-silicon anode allows lithium-ion batteries to contain up to 50 percent more energy, Luebbe said they can supply the same diversity as existing graphite batteries, but with fewer cells, reducing total charge and battery life.
Luebbe said Group14 will supply battery fabrics to Porsche subsidiary Cellforce. It also has an existing supply agreement with European battery manufacturer, InoBat. The first electric vehicle batteries that will use Group14’s anode curtains will go into production in 2023, but Luebbe declined to identify the manufacturer.
Group14’s previous investors come with a number of corporations in the electric vehicle battery industry, adding ATL, BASF, Showa Denko, Cabot and SK Material. The newest company, a member of the Korean SK Group, has a joint venture with Group14 to manufacture anodes. fabrics in that country.
Luebbe said Group14’s anode has been tested by battery makers Storedot and Farasis. The Storedot battery supplied with Group14’s silicon carbide anode can be charged to 80 percent of its capacity in 10 minutes, he said, and has the potential to be temporarily recharged in such a short time. like five minutes.
(Reporting via Paul Lienert in Detroit; editing via Bernard Orr)