Porsche joins $400M wager on lithium-silicon batteries to juice up future EVs – TechCrunch

Porsche has learn the room.

With its first electrical automobile now outselling the quintessential 911 sports activities automotive, the German automaker is responding by upping its wager on EVs, partly by way of a hefty funding in lithium-silicon battery developer Group14 Applied sciences.

Porsche injected $100 million into Group14 as half of a bigger $400 million Sequence C funding spherical. Different traders that chipped in embody Canadian pension fund OMERS, Decarbonization Companions, personal fairness agency Riverstone, Vsquared Ventures and Moore Strategic Ventures.

Group14’s key know-how is a silicon-carbon powder that may both exchange or increase graphite anodes. Graphite is utilized in most of at the moment’s lithium-ion batteries, and it’s a wise anode as a result of it’s steady and might retailer an inexpensive quantity of power.

But as automakers push for greater power densities, graphite is being pushed up towards its limits. Silicon is a lovely different because it’s in a position to maintain way more lithium — theoretically as much as 10 instances extra. However that very same profit can also be the silicon’s Achilles’ heel. As a result of silicon absorbs a lot lithium, the molecular-scale growth and contraction can degrade the anode’s construction, resulting in untimely failure.

Group14 is certainly one of many startups racing to develop silicon-based anodes that may be repeatedly charged and discharged with out breaking down. To do this, the corporate infuses a porous carbon scaffold with a silicon-containing gasoline. The tip result’s a carbon compound that’s peppered with nanoscale silicon particles. These particles serve to seize maintain of lithium ions whereas the carbon scaffold serves as a steady construction so the anode doesn’t decompose because it’s used.

Group14 says that its carbon-silicon materials could be blended with graphite anodes, too, and that it may be dropped into an present battery manufacturing line with few modifications.

The startup claims that its SCC55 materials can retailer 50% extra power than conventional graphite anodes. It has one battery supplies plant on-line at present and has two extra within the works, one a three way partnership with SK Group that’s coming on-line later this yr and one other that’ll begin producing in 2023. Group14 seems to be focusing on manufacturing for Porsche battery packs in 2024.

For an automaker like Porsche, which constructed its status on light-weight, high-performance sports activities automobiles, the prospect of a smaller and extra highly effective battery have to be interesting.

Advancing battery tech is essential to decarbonizing the auto trade, which accounted for 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, per Greenpeace. But, this doubtlessly helpful deal does little to wipe away the soiled monitor document of a few of Group14’s traders, a number of of whom are prolific fossil gas backers.

Decarbonization Companions, for instance, is a three way partnership between BlackRock and Temasek. The pair has backed some intriguing, sustainability-focused corporations reminiscent of mushroom leather-based startup MycoWorks, but BlackRock additionally lately pledged to “proceed to put money into and help fossil gas firms.” The $97.3 billion investing big tends to speak out of both sides of its mouth. OMERS’ portfolio additionally contains a number of crude oil and gasoline ventures, although the pension fund has promised to succeed in net-zero emissions throughout its investments by the distant yr of 2050.

For Group14, the brand new deal represents a giant step up — by practically an element of 10. Previous to the increase, the Woodinville, Washington-based startup had reportedly secured a mixed $41.5 million or so in enterprise {dollars} and authorities grants.