An electric car battery that can charge almost instantly, deliver long range, and not care about the cold. Yes, it’s the Holy Grail of technology development, but that hasn’t stopped battery technology companies from trying to do it. And each year it seems like they’re getting closer and closer to success.
A new battery electrolyte from tech company 24M Technologies has just made a huge jump in EV cell potential. 24M says its Eternalyte electrolyte can triple the flow of ions across the cell, promising massively better electric batteries for EVs like the Kia EV6 and others.
Faster Ion Flow Means Faster Charging
Inside every battery cell, there is an anode and a cathode. When you draw power from the battery, ions travel from the anode to the cathode. To charge, they flow the opposite way. They flow through a liquid electrolyte and pass through a separator that keeps the anode and cathode apart. The faster these ions can flow, the more quickly you can charge. That’s simplified, but close enough.
Solid state battery cells, which multiple automakers including Stellantis, Toyota, and Nissan, are working on, use a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid or gel. It’s one possible way to improve the flow of ions.
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Solid-state batteries are getting closer and closer to reality.
Instead of a solid, 24M says it has developed a better liquid electrolyte. One that has up to three times the ionic conductivity of other electrolytes. It says that this can flow enough ions to add 186 miles of range in under four minutes. Almost more importantly, 24M says that this fast charging doesn’t need megawatt charging stations, which are expensive and almost non-existent.
New Electrolyte Keeps Its Capacity In Extreme Cold
24M’s Eternalyte electrolyte breakthrough solves some of the biggest challenges of lithium-ion batteries today. Rapid charge, superior low-temperature performance and great cycle life with lithium-metal and other high energy density chemistries, Eternalyte provides outstanding performance for applications ranging from EVs to consumer products. It paves the way for next-gen batteries, including lithium metal, with 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) driving range and years of reliable performance.
– Naoki Ota, President and CEO at 24M Technologies
According to 24M, the ionic conductivity of the Eternalyte electrolyte stays high over a wider temperature range. EV batteries can lose 25% capacity at 32°F, and that keeps getting worse as it gets colder. The low temperatures slow down how quickly ions can flow through an electrolyte. But 24M says that its chemistry keeps “essentially all capacity” at freezing, and maintains more than 80% at -40°F.
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The reasoning isn’t perfect, but it’s very on-brand for Toyota and its obsessions with reliability and longevity.
While 24M sounds like a knockoff of 3M, it started as a spinoff from MIT. It currently licenses its battery tech to companies including Kyocera, energy storage company Axxiva, automotive supplier Lucas TVS, and others. 24M says its ETOP pack design and LiForever technology help lower costs and make a battery 98 percent recyclable, as well as its tech helping safety by preventing catastrophic battery fires.
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