Wind and solar power have become so cheap to install, and at times so abundant, that utilities don’t know what to do with it all. Sometimes they’ll even pay the owners of other power plants not to generate electricity. In response, scientists and engineers have been racing to find inexpensive ways to store that power […]
Cache Energy’s mysterious white pellets could help kill coal and natural gas Read More »
The biggest limitation of tiny robots is, naturally, their size. The smaller the robot, the more difficult it is to develop components. Among the key challenges is finding a power source. Some systems utilize clever work-arounds, like these cell-sized bots, which use a photodiode to access the minute level of electricity needed to do their
Researchers develop hair-thin battery to power tiny robots Read More »
Hannah Sieber knows just how transformative batteries can be. At her previous startup, EcoFlow, she used them to replace generators, whether for powering homes after a bad storm or RVs at a campsite. The experience made her wonder what else batteries could do, especially smaller ones. “What are the other industries that could dramatically change?”
Cold shipping might be the next industry that batteries disrupt Read More »
Amid a fraught environment for battery startups, Sila has raised $375 million to finish construction of a U.S. factory that will scale its next-generation battery technology for customers like Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic by the end of 2025. Sila, formerly known as Sila Nanotechnologies, is slated to finish construction of its Moses Lake, Washington plant in
As battery startups fail, Sila snaps up $375M in new funding Read More »
If there’s one thing holding back batteries, it’s cost. The most widespread type of battery, lithium-ion, still costs around $140 per kilowatt-hour for a pack. While that’s low enough to have triggered quickening adoption of electric vehicles, even the cheapest lithium-ion chemistries are still too expensive to put a big battery in every home to
Unigrid wants to make batteries cheaper and safer using sodium Read More »
EnerVenue, a startup that has developed an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for long-duration renewable energy storage, is raising $515 million in fresh equity, per an SEC filing seen by TechCrunch. The company is in the process of building a gigawatt-scale factory in Kentucky to produce its nickel-hydrogen batteries, an endeavor that’s estimated to cost $264
Novel battery manufacturer EnerVenue is raising $515M, per filing Read More »
Redwood Materials, the battery recycling startup founded by former Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, will be recycling production scrap for batteries going into General Motors electric vehicles. The company announced Thursday that it’s working with Ultium Cells, the joint battery manufacturing venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, to recycle cathode, anode and cell scrap from
Redwood Materials is partnering with Ultium Cells to recycle GM’s EV battery scrap Read More »
Where Aytac Yilmaz lives in the Netherlands, the sun might not appear for days on end, which can really crimp the output of the country’s solar panels. Wind turbines might make up some of the shortfall, but what if the wind disappears at the same time? Enter long-duration energy storage, or massive batteries tailored to
