USABC Awards $298,736 Contract To Seeo Inc. For Battery Module Testing
Originally Published on the ECOreport
The competitively bid contract is for a variety of tests which will be carried out on Seeo’s DryLyte™ Cell technology over the next nine months. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing 50% of the $298,736 needed to fund the tests, which will be carried out over the next 9 months. Seeo’s current DryLyte™ cell technology has an energy density of 220 Wh/kg. According to Seeo’s President Hal Zarem, many of its components will be used their next-generation technology.
Seeo recently captured headlines when it announced they are developing a technology that can double the effective range of inexpensive EVs. This will not happen until they produce a 400 Wh/kg battery.
“Next year we are looking at cells in excess of 300 Wh/kg,” explained Zarem. “The range depends on how the vehicle manufacturer specifies their product and how many watt hours of battery they chose to put in there.”
The USABC is a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. In a separate press release, Steve Zimmer, executive director of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC, the parent organization of USABC, said:
We are pleased to announce the award of this contract to Seeo Inc. as part of USABC’s broad battery technology research and development programs. These programs are essential to advance the technology needed to meet both near- and long-term goals that will enable increasingly efficient and affordable vehicle electrification.
“This is a validation of our technology and the roadmap we are currently on,” said Zarem.
Seeo will deliver several hundred cells from our pilot manufacturing line assembled in battery modules, each module providing 1.65 kWh storage capacity. We welcome the opportunity to independently validate their performance as we prepare to introduce the next leap forward in electric vehicle battery technology.
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Wow, this could be really big.
What does a 400 Wh/kg battery translate too? How many Km or Miles would a car expect to travel based on this battery?
Range would depend on how many kWh of batteries were installed.
Higher Wh/kg would mean the batteries, and car, would be lighter. It would take less energy to move the vehicle. That would mean packing few kWh of batteries. And purchasing fewer kWh of batteries.
I’ll add some speculative stuff. Assume that capacity moves from 200 to 400 Wh/kg and materials/labor costs stay roughly the same per kg.
That would mean that we could build a 200 mile EV for the same or less than what we now spend for a 100 mile EV.
Battery price will come down close to the cost of the inputs – materials, labor, energy. That’s what happens when things are produced on large scale (as long as there is adequate competition).
If we can get to 400 Wh/kg without having to use any really expensive materials or very expensive processing we’ll quickly move away from petroleum for personal transportation.
Let’s see when that happens. I guess BVs will have to be cheaper than ICEVs.
I remember people saying that EVs would need less maintenance. An EV is obviously cheaper compared to ICE the more you use it.
There are also only small EVs available. Nothing like an electric Sharan or Voyager. Such a car would obviously use more power in the first place.
Tesla batteries are currently 243 Wh/kg. So, an S85 with this battery would expect to go about 60% further. This would give it a range of 425 miles.
you can add its a solid state also
Please produce report after 9 months
The $298,736 is just pathetic compared to the half a trillion dollars per year given as grants and subsidies to the fossil fuel industries!