Skip to main content

Breakthrough battery could revolutionise cost, range and safety of electric vehicles

Envia Systems, based in California, has announced test results that verify the company’s next-generation rechargeable battery has achieved the highest recorded energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/kg) for a rechargeable lithium-ion cell. When commercialised, this 400 Wh/kg battery is expected to slash the price of a 500km range electric vehicle by cutting the cost of the battery pack by more than 50 per cent. The testing of Envia’s next-generation lithium-ion battery was performed by the Electroche
March 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
4252 Envia Systems, based in California, has announced test results that verify the company’s next-generation rechargeable battery has achieved the highest recorded energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/kg) for a rechargeable lithium-ion cell. When commercialised, this 400 Wh/kg battery is expected to slash the price of a 500km range electric vehicle by cutting the cost of the battery pack by more than 50 per cent.

The testing of Envia’s next-generation lithium-ion battery was performed by the Electrochemical Power Systems Department at the 4253 Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Crane, Indiana, under the sponsorship of ARPA-E. Tests at various cycling rates at NSWC confirmed that Envia’s automotive battery cell demonstrated energy density between 378-418 Wh/kg for rates between C/3 to C/10 for a 45 Amp-hour (C/3) cell. Similar cells have been cycling in Envia’s test labs for over 300 cycles. NSWC Crane will also test these cells to validate cycling performance.

“Since the inception of Envia, our product team has worked tirelessly and logged over 25 million test channel hours to optimally develop each of the active components of the battery: Envia's proprietary Si-C anode, HCMR cathode and EHV electrolyte," said Dr. Sujeet Kumar, Envia Systems co-founder, president & CTO.  “Rather than just a proof-of-concept of energy density, I am pleased that our team was successful in actually delivering 400 Wh/kg automotive grade 45 Ah lithium-ion rechargeable cells.”

“Envia’s new battery technology represents exactly the kind of innovation and breakthroughs that ARPA-E is looking for from the American research and development community,” said ARPA-E director Arun Majumdar.  “We hope that this low-cost and high-density battery technology enables widespread adoption of electric vehicles across the country and around the world.”

Envia was awarded grants by both the 4258 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the 4259 California Energy Commission in 2010 to develop high energy density batteries for electric vehicles. 4248 General Motors Ventures participated in an equity investment round of US$17 million in 2011.

Related Content

  • New EV battery pack arrangement patented
    May 21, 2012
    EV Xchange Technologies has announced the issuance of US Patent No. 8,146,694 which relates to a modular battery packs arrangement system for electric vehicles. In this system, the battery packs are much smaller in size compared to cluster battery pack design that exists today. The unique features of this invention are use of rechargeable multiple small size modular battery packs which are exchangeable manually or by an automated battery swap station. Another important feature is that a defective battery mo
  • Copenhagen hailed as most ‘vital’ city in new study
    May 11, 2016
    Copenhagen has been hailed as the most ‘vital’ city in a new study as a result of its strong sustainability, cycling and mobility credentials. The Future Spaces Foundation’s study, Vital Cities: Transport Systems Scorecard, an interactive data hub, awards connectivity ratings to twelve cities across the world. The research looks at key factors that make cities thrive, for example breathability, bike and foot networks, use of data and apps, ranking each city based on its performance across more than 30
  • ABB charging technology available in 95% EV countries
    January 24, 2018
    ABB has announced that its charging technology is now available in 95% of the world’s countries with an electric vehicle (EV) presence. It has also confirmed that its sales of DC fast chargers have exceeded 6,500 ranging from 50 kW up to 450kW which also includes high-power chargers for both cars and buses. The technology is designed with the intention of supporting global e-mobility charging standards.
  • Austrian Bike2CAV V2X project could mark turning point in cyclist safety
    May 10, 2023
    Research in Salzburg into C-ITS equips bikes with V2X tech to allow detection via ITS-G5