Stellantis has announced plans to invest in a company that is looking to produce an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Lyten is a Silicon Valley company looking to produce lithium-sulfur EV batteries, which would eliminate the need for cobalt, nickel, and manganese to produce EVs. The companies have argued that Sulphur is easier to obtain and can be domestically sourced.
It’s been estimated that the new batteries would have a carbon footprint 60% lower than the best lithium-ion batteries on the market and that they could also be produced in the same factories as them.
Graphene is the material Lyten has said will provide a path for lithium-sulfate batteries to be fully functional. Lyten’s President and CEO Dan Cook said that lithium-sulfate batteries would have superior energy density, resulting in a larger payload and range.
“This is a challenging chemistry, but with our materials we can make it real,” Cook stated.
The companies have set a goal of putting lithium-sulfate batteries into vehicles during the second half of the decade. A test run of a production line in San Jose, California is being prepared, which will aim to produce 200,000 cells a year.
