DOE Battery Consortium Aims to Triple EV Energy Capacity

The recently announced Battery500 consortium backed by the U.S. Dept. of Energy aims to nearly triple the specific energy of lithium-ion batteries in five years.

The group is targeting an increase for batteries used in electric vehicles to 500 Wh/kg from today’s range of 170-200 Wh/kg. The higher capacity will extend driving ranges and enable the use of significantly smaller, lighter and less expensive batteries (below $100/kWh), according to the group.

The consortium, which will receive as much as $10 million annually during the five year program, says its research will target technologies that can be quickly adapted to real-world applications. Initial focus will be on lithium-metal batteries with lithium rather than graphite electrodes. Two cathode materials will be evaluated. About one-fifth of the budget will be allocated to “seedling projects” based on proposals submitted independently by third-party groups.

DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richmond, Wash., will lead the initiative. PNNL materials scientist Jun Liu will serve as the consortium’s director.

Three other national labs will participate in the program: Brookhaven in Upton, N.Y., Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, and the SLAC National Accelerator facility in Menlo Park, Calif. Academic partners comprise Binghamton University in New York, Stanford University, the University of California, University of Texas and University of Washington.

IBM and Tesla will serve as advisors to the consortium. IBM has been working on its own Battery500 project since 2009.