Solid Power and BMW’s R&D deal offers a glimpse into the future of the battery industry • InNewCL
Solid Power and BMW’s R&D deal offers a glimpse into the future of the battery industry • InNewCL
#Solid #Power #BMWs #deal #offers #glimpse #future #battery #industry #InNewCL Welcome to InNewCL, here is the new story we have for you today:
Click Me To View Restricted Videos
Solid Power, one of the leaders in the race to commercialize solid-state lithium-ion batteries, has stalled lately. But a new deal with BMW could give him the boost he needs.
After going public through SPAC in late 2021, Solid Power’s stock price followed the all-too-famous SPAC bump, then broke, and traded at a discount to its $10 debut for much of this year. Then, in late November, its co-founder and CEO, Douglas Campbell, announced his resignation, hastening the stock’s plunge.
Campbell said that while the company was able to ship sample cells to partners BMW and Ford on time, it was struggling to find talent to staff its facilities and high-quality materials to manufacture its batteries.
Solid Power was founded in 2011, a year before battery pioneer A123 Systems collapsed. The insolvency of the larger company undoubtedly left its mark on the founding team. Rather than trying to compete with big battery makers like LG, CATL and SK Innovation, Solid Power has long sought to supply larger companies with battery materials that would enable denser and lighter cells.
However, to win these large, long-term contracts, Solid Power has yet to prove that its materials can be mass-produced. Handcrafting a breakthrough cell in a lab is one thing; Making hundreds or thousands of them in a short amount of time is another.
Solid Power has made strides and in June unveiled a pilot production line making the cells for BMW and Ford. But that line apparently had a few issues, and production wasn’t progressing as quickly as the company would like. It still has plenty of cash — over $370 million in cash and securities, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission — but it needs manufacturing expertise to overcome any obstacles it encounters.
Enter BMW: Today the two companies announced an expanded joint development agreement in which BMW will pay Solid Power $20 million in exchange for the company’s manufacturing expertise. BMW will replicate Solid Power’s pilot production line in Germany and will also send battery and manufacturing experts to Colorado to help troubleshoot the original pilot line.
