Enevate, a U.S.-based, pioneering battery innovation company featuring extreme fast charge and high energy density battery tech for EVs and other markets, and Korea’s JR Energy Solution (JR ES), designer of high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes and cells, have announced a joint plan to build a battery cell electrode manufacturing facility in the US.
JR Energy Solution is a leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes with a unique electrode and battery cell foundry model, enabling lithium-ion cell manufacturers and other partners to produce tailor-made electrodes and cell solutions. JR ES has announced the initial groundbreaking for its first production facility in South Korea, which is planned to start initial production from Q4 of 2023.
What does the facility mean for the industry?
In June, Enevate announced that it had licensed its silicon-dominant XFC-Energy® battery tech to JR ES for future products and applications. This collaboration will now be expanded to include the joint construction of a battery cell electrode manufacturing facility in the U.S. Enevate and JR ES have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to work together on establishing a US manufacturing facility and have begun the process of identifying potential locations.
The facility will produce tailor-made lithium-ion battery cell electrodes, including anodes and cathodes, which will bolster the market penetration of Enevate’s revolutionary battery fast charge tech for existing and new Enevate customers. The facility will also provide various electrode solutions for other customers including, but not limited to, graphite, silicon, LFP, NMC, NCMA and NCA, for different battery cell form factors such as pouch or cylindrical cells.
Clients will have the opportunity to develop electrodes and battery cells utilizing Enevate’s silicon-dominant XFC-Energy® anode battery tech, which delivers up to 10 times faster charging than conventional lithium-ion batteries with high energy densities and improved cold-temperature performance for future applications such as electric two/three-wheelers or EVs.
Also, the battery cell electrode foundry facility will enable clients to outsource parts of their production; speed up their development process; or order tailor-made electrodes to qualify their materials or production equipment, while having the benefit of receiving ultra-high-quality electrodes produced on leading manufacturing equipment at mass production speed.
Enevate and JR Energy Solution are both committed to providing revolutionary commercial-scale domestic manufacturing capabilities to enable faster adoption of Enevate’s technology as well as to support sustainability, resilience, and equity in the United States. Additionally, both companies are strongly focused on eliminating supply chain constraints to support the global energy industry and specially to assist the world in meeting its future climate goals.
What does the partnership mean for stakeholders?
“This is a huge milestone for JR ES to bring our expertise in electrode development and manufacturing to the U.S. It will allow us to expand our electrode foundry model to the U.S. and to serve U.S.- based clients even better. We are thrilled to work together with Enevate as our partner and to have access to its revolutionary battery technology, which will be a key value proposition for many customers going forward,” said JR Energy Solution CEO Duke Oh.
“This collaboration with JR Energy Solution is great news for the whole battery industry in the U.S.. It will allow customers to get access to Enevate’s industry-leading silicon-dominant battery technology and to tap into JR Energy Solution’s knowledge and expertise in electrode and battery cell manufacturing,” commented Enevate Chief Executive Officer Bob Kruse.
“Moreover, it will enable customers to accelerate their development process or to outsource parts of their production capacity. I am convinced that this facility will play a key role in helping the U.S. battery industry to get even more competitive,” Kruse further commented.
The two companies are currently in the evaluation process for different potential locations for their joint production facility. The facility is currently planned to reach up to 6 GWh of annual paired electrode capacity (6 GWh anode + 6 GWh cathode) in different building stages.
The ever-increasing global demand for battery cell electrode production coupled with the need for high-speed innovation and development will make this joint manufacturing facility a very attractive solution for many battery manufacturers, OEMs, startups or material and equipment suppliers with a constant need for high quality battery cell electrodes.
Also, having access to the scaled-up production of Enevate’s fast charge tech will allow clients to improve their products and applications and to advance the U.S. battery industry further.
