Charging Ahead: Startups Redefining the EV Battery Landscape

Phinergy is an Israeli startup that is developing aluminum-air batteries for electric vehicles. In conventional lithium-ion batteries, energy is stored in the chemical bonds between lithium and other metal ions, such as cobalt and nickel. When the battery is discharged, the lithium ions move from one electrode to another, releasing energy in the process.

In an aluminum-air battery, energy is stored in the chemical bonds between aluminum and oxygen. When the battery is discharged, the aluminum reacts with oxygen in the air to produce electricity. This process has a much higher energy density than the chemical process in a lithium-ion battery, meaning that aluminum-air batteries can store more energy in the same volume.

Advantages of Phinergy’s Aluminum-air batteries:

• Faster refueling times: Aluminum-air batteries can be refueled in a matter of minutes, making them much faster than charging a lithium-ion battery.
• Lower cost: Aluminum is a much cheaper material than lithium, so aluminum-air batteries are likely to be less expensive than lithium-ion batteries.
• More sustainable: Aluminum is a recyclable material, so aluminum-air batteries are more sustainable than lithium-ion batteries, which contain rare earth metals that are difficult to mine and recycle.

BroadBit Batteries is a Finnish startup that is developing revolutionary new batteries using novel sodium-based chemistries. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, making it a much more sustainable alternative to lithium, which is used in most current-generation lithium-ion batteries.

BroadBit's batteries can be fully charged in as little as 5 minutes, compared to 30-60 minutes for lithium-ion batteries. Their batteries are made from low-cost materials, which could make them significantly cheaper than lithium-ion batteries.

BroadBit's batteries are non-flammable and have a stable fully discharged state, making them safer to transport and store. BroadBit is currently commercializing its batteries for a variety of applications, including electric vehicles, portable electronics, starters, and grid energy storage.

Tiveni is a battery systems innovator that was founded in 2019 by Martin Eberhard, one of the co-founders of Tesla.

Tiveni is working on developing and licensing designs for fire-safe, standardized, slide-in/out replaceable, energy-dense, low cost, high volume manufacturable, chemistry/cell packaging-agnostic, and modularized energy storage systems.