Ford and BMW-backed Solid Power, a US developer of solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles (EVs), has completed installation of its pilot production line for solid-state EV cells.
Solid Power says its silicon EV cells offer longer-range, lower-cost and safer electric vehicles and will use the pilot line to produce cells for internal testing before delivering to its automotive partners BMW and Ford.
When running at full capacity, Solid Power’s EV cell pilot line is expected to be capable of producing 300 cells per week, or approximately 15,000 cells per year, with the majority of those being planned for automotive qualification testing.
Doug Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of Solid Power, says, “Solid Power is encouraged by taking this next step on its automotive qualification roadmap. The installation of this EV cell pilot line will allow us to produce EV-scale cells suitable for initiating the formal automotive qualification process. Over the coming quarters, we will work to bring the EV cell pilot line up to its full operational capability and look forward to delivering EV-scale all-solid-state cells to our partners later this year.”
Derek Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at Solid Power, adds, “With the EV cell pilot line now installed, our next big challenge is commencing production at scale and building cells that meet the requirements necessary for us to enter into automotive qualification later this year.”