The company said that Li-S chemistry offers the highest energy potential of any two solid elements with more than twice the energy capacity of lithium ion technology at half the weight.
This grant will fund a four-way collaboration coupling Sion Power’s materials and process technologies with expertise provided by national laboratories and BASF, to expedite commercial success.
Dennis Mangino, CEO of Sion Power, said: “We believe this ARPA-E grant is a strong vote of confidence in the future of our advantaged Li-S rechargeable battery technology.
“There is no other known commercial technology that will be able to match the electric vehicle driving performance enabled by Li-S batteries once the hurdles of cycle life and safety are overcome. This grant will allow us to accelerate that reality.”
Performance targets for this program are to exceed 500Wh/kg and 500 cycles at commercially viable recharge rates. By 2016, the goal is to produce a cell with 600Wh/kg and 1,000 cycles.
Sion Power has established proprietary and patented materials and methods for protecting the lithium metal anode, which differentiates its approach from all other known Li-S research efforts. These advances directly improve cycle life and safety while allowing higher energy capacities to be achieved.
Sion Power claims that by utilizing Li-S technology, a battery pack weighing less than 700lbs can power a 3,500lb five-passenger vehicle more than 300 miles.
