Ionblox's lithium-silicon batteries breaking barriers of extreme fast charging

Ionblox, an innovator in battery technology, recently announced the launch of its extreme fast-charging lithium-silicon cells designed for electric vehicles (EVs). Leveraging the superior energy storage capability of silicon, the company’s new cells dramatically reduce charging times while extending driving range, offering EV manufacturers a significant leap in performance and efficiency.

Replacing an average 300-mile EV battery pack with one with Ionblox cells would result in a 30% range increase to 390 miles. Learn more here.

The Ionblox technology enables extreme fast charging (XFC), achieving 60% of the battery’s capacity in just five minutes and 80% in 10 minutes. These advancements make it possible to charge EVs in nearly the same time it takes to fill up a gasoline tank, effectively eliminating one of the key barriers to EV adoption.

In addition, Ionblox’s high-energy cells allow EV manufacturers to either extend the range of an EV by 30% to 50% using a similarly sized Ionblox battery pack or to reduce weight and cost with a smaller Ionblox battery pack.

“The battery industry has long grappled with the critical challenge of balancing high-energy storage and fast charging within a single, durable battery,” said Dr. Herman Lopez, CTO of Ionblox. “Our groundbreaking lithium-silicon technology shatters this barrier. We’ve engineered high-performance cells that are not only compact and lightweight but also robust enough for continuous use under five-minute extreme fast charging, effectively closing the performance divide between electric vehicles and their internal combustion counterparts.”

Ionblox’s lithium-silicon cells not only charge more efficiently but also maintain their performance over the vehicle lifetime. Under rigorous testing of large-format 32 Ah capacity pouch cells, Ionblox’s batteries can endure greater than 1,000 extreme fast-charge cycles with minimal degradation. This is made possible using a patented pre-lithiated silicon monoxide anode, and a unique cell architecture that can be built on existing cell manufacturing equipment.

In 2022, Ionblox received a new United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) contract to develop low-cost and fast-charge silicon-based cells for EVs. Ionblox has also received a strategic investment from Lilium, a leading eVTOL company. Ionblox extreme fast charging cell technology will enable eVTOLs to fly numerous times per day increasing the amount of time the aircraft spends in the skies.