Early this year, a Harvard spinoff company, Adden Energy made headlines by developing a lithium-metal solid-state battery technology that could offer significant benefits.
According to the team, their solid-state battery could achieve a full charge in just 10 minutes and offer a charging cycle of at least 6,000 times.
Now, this breakthrough battery technology seems to be gaining a stronghold. Added Energy recently announced that it has secured a funding of $15 million to bring its ultra-fast charging batteries to the EV market.
“To scale production and bring this technology to car manufacturers, the company has raised $15M in a Series A round led by At One Ventures,” said Adden Energy in a press release.
Practical applications of solid-state batteries
This development marks a major step towards the practical application of solid-state batteries in various industries and commercial settings.
“Lithium metal anode batteries are considered the holy grail of batteries because they have ten times the capacity of commercial graphite anodes and could drastically increase the driving distance of electric vehicles,” Xin Li, Associate Professor of Materials Science at SEAS and a co-founder of Adden Energy, said in a press release while introducing the technology.
Notably, this battery technology was initially unveiled by the researchers in January 2024. They focused on a challenging aspect of solid-state batteries: the formation of dendrites.
“These structures grow like roots into the electrolyte and pierce the barrier separating the anode and cathode, causing the battery to short or even catch fire,” mentioned the press release.
Adden Energy has cracked the code to controlling dendrites. Their solution to the problem is a self-healing separator. It helps lithium metal tackle the risk of dendrites and aids batteries in performing better than traditional ones.
During experiments, Adden Energy successfully demonstrated the technology in a postage stamp-sized pouch cell, which retained 80% of its capacity after 6,000 cycles, surpassing the performance of current pouch cell batteries.
Scaling up production for EV adoption
With the latest investment, Adden Energy intends to scale up the production of its batteries to encourage the widespread adoption of EVs.
Many potential EV buyers are concerned about the slow charging times, limited range, short lifespans, and safety hazards associated with conventional lithium-ion batteries.
“Current EVs work great for people like me – those with at-home charging whose driving consists of short commutes and an occasional road trip,” remarked Adden Energy Co-Founder and CEO Will Fitzhugh.
“That’s not good enough. We need to deliver battery solutions that put EVs at parity with the internal combustion engine in every consumer facing dimension.”
Interestingly, the funding support to Adden Energy has come at an opportune moment when research institutions, car makers, and even governments worldwide are pushing for more adoption of EVs.
Adden Energy plans to use the new funding to build a pilot production line at its headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. This facility will allow them to scale up production of their EV-compatible pouch cell batteries.
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