Korean battery firms are hooking up with US companies to get in on the stateside EV battery gold rush. The latest partnership to be announced is between US-based Enevate and South Korea’s JR Energy Solution (JR ES).
JR ES boasts a unique electrode and battery cell foundry model that enables cell manufacturers to produce tailor-made electrodes and cells. The company recently broke ground on its first production facility in South Korea, which is to start production in Q4 of this year.
Enevate recently licensed its silicon-dominant XFC-Energy battery technology to JR ES. The collaboration will now be expanded to include the joint construction of an electrode manufacturing facility in the US. The companies have signed a letter of intent, and are scouting potential locations. The eventual capacity is expected to be 6 GWh anodes and 6 GWh cathodes per year.
The facility will produce tailor-made anodes and cathodes for Enevate customers. The facility will also provide various electrode solutions for other customers including graphite, silicon, LFP, NMC, NCMA and NCA, for different battery cell form factors such as pouch and cylindrical cells.
Customers will have the opportunity to develop electrodes and battery cells using Enevate’s XFC-Energy technology, which the company says delivers up to 10 times faster charging than conventional lithium-ion batteries, as well as improved cold-weather performance.
“This collaboration with JR Energy Solution is great news for the whole battery industry in the US,” said Enevate CEO Bob Kruse. “It will allow customers to get access to Enevate’s silicon-dominant battery technology and to tap into JR ES’s knowledge and expertise in electrode and battery cell manufacturing. Moreover, it will enable customers to accelerate their development process or to outsource parts of their production capacity.”
“This is a huge milestone for JR ES to bring our unique expertise in electrode development and manufacturing to the US,” said JR Energy Solution CEO Duke Oh. “It will also allow us to expand our electrode foundry model to the US and to serve US- based customers even better.”
Source: Enevate
