Ford, BMW, Volta Lead $130 Mn Investing Round in EV Battery Maker Solid Power

Ford Motor Company, BMW Group, and Volta Energy Technologies have been leading a $130 million Series B investment round in Solid Power, the all-solid-state batteries manufacturer for electric vehicles (EVs).

Both Ford and BMW have also expanded their existing joint development agreements with Solid Power to utilize the latter’s low-cost, high-energy battery technology using existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure for future EVs.

The investment enables battery maker to produce at full-scale, increase associated material output and expand in-house production capabilities for future vehicle integration.

Commenting on the development, Doug Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power, said “BMW and Ford now share leading positions in the race for all solid-state battery-powered electric vehicles.”

Campbell further said, “Solid Power now plans to begin producing automotive-scale batteries on the company’s pilot production line in early 2022 as a result of our partners’ continued commitment to Solid Power’s commercialization efforts.”

“Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that's why we're investing directly,” said Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of Electrification Subsystems and Power Supply Research.

Miller added that “by simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we'll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume, deliver lower costs and better value for customers and more efficiently integrate this kind of solid-state battery cell technology into existing lithium-ion cell production processes.”

Speaking on the cell development, Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, Development, said “together we have developed a 20 Ah all solid-state cell that is absolutely outstanding in this field. Over the past 10 years BMW has continuously increased the battery cell competence– important partners like Solid Power share our vision of a zero-emission mobility.”

Solid Power is currently producing 20 ampere hour (Ah) multi-layer all solid-state batteries on its continuous roll-to-roll production line, which exclusively utilizes industry standard lithium-ion production processes and equipment.

Meanwhile, both Ford and BMW are expected to receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022.