Use off-the-shelf lithium-ion cells with a silicon anode. Charging faster than refueling with hydrogen

Enevate, a startup that has received funding from several large companies, announced the availability of new lithium-ion cells and are ready for mass production immediately. They offer a higher energy density and shorter charging times than currently produced lithium-ion cells.

Enevate XFC-Energy batteries: up to 75 percent battery in 5 minutes and higher energy density

Table of contents

• Enevate XFC-Energy batteries: up to 75 percent battery in 5 minutes and higher energy density
  • Charges faster than hydrogen. For now, the charging station can handle it.

LG Chem and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance have invested in Enevate, so it is not Krzak i S-ka that talks a lot and cannot imagine anything (see: Hummingbird). The startup has just announced to the world that it has mass-produced lithium-ion cells that are better than the solutions currently in use (source).

XFC-Energy batteries use a silicon anode instead of a standard graphite anode. The company is proud to have achieved energy density 0,8 kWh / l 0,34 kWh / kg... The best lithium-ion batteries from a reliable manufacturer in the industry, the parameters of which have been identified, reach 0,7 kWh / l and 0,3 kWh / kg, i.e. a dozen percent less.

In the range above 0,3 kWh / kg, there are only announcements and prototypes:

> Alise Project: Our lithium sulfur cells have reached 0,325 kWh / kg, we are going to 0,5 kWh / kg.

Enevate emphasizes that their solution can be used with nickel-rich cathodes such as NCA, NCM or NCMA and withstands more than 1 charge cycle... Anodes can be fabricated at a speed of 80 meters per minute, they can be 1 meter wide and more than 5 kilometers long (!)which is important for organized large-scale production.

Cell HD-Energy from (c) Enevate

Charges faster than hydrogen. For now, the charging station can handle it.

Most important in the end: cells are able to withstand charge up to 75 percent in 5 minutes... Using the Tesla Model 3 as an example, let's figure out what this might mean.

The Tesla Model 3 Long Range has a battery with a usable capacity of 74 kWh. We assume - which is not so obvious - that Enevate is talking about charging "from 10 to 75 percent", that is, about filling 65 percent of the battery capacity.

An electrician's battery using Enevate XFC-Energy technology consumes 48 kWh of energy in 5 minutes. Provided, of course, that the charging station can handle a charging power of up to 580 kW.

Assuming the Tesla Model 3 consumes 17,5 kWh / 100 km (175 Wh / km), range arrives at a speed of +3 300 km / h (+55 km / min).

James May fills up Toyota Mirai fuel cell replenished with hydrogen at a speed of +3 260 km / h (+54,3 km / min):

> Tesla Model S vs. Toyota Mirai - James May's opinion, no verdict [video]

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