Currently, battery manufacturers and car makers build modules and packs from individual cells meaning that lithium-ion batteries feature a large proportion of inactive, non-energy-carrying materials – such as supporting metals and plastics – within a cell’s casing, adding cost and wasting space.
24M ETOP replaces this approach by creating a sealed cathode/anode pair that eliminates the cell and module and unnecessary materials. This allows manufacturers to achieve higher energy densities for any chemistry available at the pack level, because a higher percentage of the battery is electrodes, the energy-storing components. This makes it possible for electrodes to comprise 80 percent of a pack’s volume, compared to the 30 percent to 60 percent of traditional battery packs. Crucially, this innovation also gives car makers a new choice: offer customers improved EV ranges by packing more energy into a same-sized pack or reduce EV costs by using less expensive chemistries.
For example, a 75kWh NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery – the size and type used by many mid-sized electric vehicles – with 24M ETOP could be increased to over 100kWh using the same chemistry, increasing range by 33 percent all in the same sized pack. 24M ETOP makes it possible to swap NMC chemistry for less expensive LFP (lithium-iron phosphate) technology, resulting in a less costly pack, but with the same overall range.
There are major manufacturing benefits too. Because electrodes are sealed individually, electrode safety tolerances do not have to be as tight as in a traditional battery, improving yield and safety while reducing investment costs by eliminating the need for traditional high tolerance and precision equipment.
Because the sealed electrodes can be flipped, they can be connected in series and parallel arrangements, enabling anything from a compact, 48V battery, all the way up to a mixed series/parallel 400-800V pack, giving battery designers further freedom. 24M ETOP also enables cell formation to be done in series which can reduce formation equipment investment, one of the largest CAPEX items in current lithium-ion battery factories.
“Minimising packaging materials and wasted space, 24M ETOP brings a step change in performance, replacing traditional cell-to-module-to-pack construction with electrode-to-pack construction, maximising energy density” said Naoki Ota, President and CEO at 24M Technologies. “24M ETOP makes it easier to build compact, flexible and safe high voltage batteries, presenting a revolutionary opportunity for electric vehicle manufacturers – longer ranges with the same chemistry or the same range with lower cost, safer chemistries, both in the same space.”
24M ETOP can also be used with 24M's Impervio separator, Eternalyte electrolyte, and its LiForever electrode, all of which are aimed at creating a fundamentally safer, higher performing and longer-lived battery through the reimagination of internal battery design.
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