New “Supercell” EV Batteries Have All The Energy Density For 20% Less Cost

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Auto industry analysts keep fretting about the pace of electric vehicle sales in the US, but the falling cost of EV batteries should put those fears to rest once and for all. The question is how fast can costs drop. Pretty fast, going by the US firm Forge Battery. The company foresees a 20% drop in costs once its new factory revs up in 2026.

The Falling Cost Of EV Batteries: How Do They Do It?

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is one of the cost-cutting factors behind Forge Battery’s new “Supercell” EV batteries. Until now, the process has been primarily confined to labwork. Forge Battery’s parent company, the nano-materials specialist Forge Nano, has developed it for commercial applications.

“ALD delivers greater performance for a lower cost than incumbent technology for nearly any application, and now we have brought this technology to the commercial environment at true manufacturing scale,” explains Forge Nano CTO James Trevey, PhD., describing the firm’s “Atomic Armor” line of ALD coatings.

Conventional, widely used coating processes are based on physical or chemical vapor deposition. ALD allows for more precision and lower expenses, partly by eliminating the costly additives needed for conventional deposition. The ALD process involves building up a surface coating one layer at a time, as thin as a single layer of atoms.

That’s not as easy as it sounds, but by 2022 Forge Nano was already citing a laundry list of advantages for batteries coated with its ALD process, including energy density, lifetime, safety, and cost. “In an electric vehicle these benefits would translate to a lower cost, longer range, faster-than-fuel recharge times, and an EV battery that can last for at least 20 years and is better suited for recycling than current EV batteries,” Forge Nano elaborated in a press statement dated June 23, 2022.

Forge Nano was also applying ALD in several commercial markets by 2022, including pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors.

That was a busy year for Forge Nano. In 2022, the company also launched Forge Battery, which has been lining up customers for its new ALD-enhanced EV batteries, and prepping a new $165 million factory in Morrisville, North Carolina.

New EV Batteries For Electric Trucks

The latest news from Forge Battery dropped just this morning, when the company announced that it has already begun shipping prototype versions of its 300 Wh/kg 21700 cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells to new and potential customers and partners.

If that thing about shipping lithium-ion battery cells sends up some red flags, you may be thinking of that big fire in California last weekend involving a truckload of batteries. As of this writing the cause is under investigation, but it’s worth a reminder that US battery manufacturers have to comply with safety standards, and that includes safety while transporting cells from one place to another.

“Forge Battery’s “Gen. 1.1 Supercell”, the company’s first commercial product, has received both UN 38.3 and UL 1642 certifications verifying the cells meet the most stringent safety requirements, permitting transportation to customer facilities,” Forge Nano notes.

If you’re looking for a Supercell under the hood of your new EV, you may have to wait a while. For the time being, Forge Battery lists electric trucks, off-highway vehicles, motorcycles, aerospace, and the US Department of Defense among its target markets.

NMC EV Batteries To World: We’re Not Going Anywhere

Some energy storage stakeholders have been searching for ways to eliminate or minimize materials like cobalt from EV batteries, but the NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) formula still has legs. Forge Battery took the minimization pathway, developing the Supercell with a lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide cathode, and a compound of silicon oxide and graphite for the anode.

“With higher silicon content in the anode, a reduction in electrolyte and additives and the ability to cycle at higher voltages, the Forge Battery Supercell is poised to outcompete state-of-the-art Tier 1 suppliers from markets globally and showcase U.S. battery innovation to the world,” emphasized Forge Nano’s VP of Energy Storage, Barbara Hughes, in a press statement this morning.

The company affirms that it expects the Supercell to achieve a 20% reduction in cost per kilowatt-hour, while beating the energy density goals outlined by the US Advanced Battery Consortium, with Forge Nano’s Atomic Armor ADL process contributing a nanoscale coating that prevents undesirable chemical reactions.

“The high-performance metrics are attained through enablement of high amounts of active silicon content and greater stability of cathode active materials at high voltage, while cost metrics are a result of the reduction of electrolyte and electrolyte additives,” Forge Battery elaborates.

Tightening Up The EV Battery Supply Chain

If all goes according to plan, Forge Battery expects its North Carolina gigafactory to start cranking out Supercells in 2026, leveraging a supply chain that relies on 100% domestic sourcing for the cathode and anode materials.

The graphite supply chain is particularly interesting, because the primary global supplier, China, has indicated it may be prepping to restrict exports. Synthetic graphite could provide a workaround, and Forge Battery has already done some prepping of its own. Back in 2022 the company inked a strategic partnership with the synthetic graphite producer Anovion, which is planning to set up shop in Georgia.

Forge Battery states that the overall domestic content of the Supercell comes out to 90%, as some of the other Supercell materials are sourced from South Korea. That’s no surprise considering that last year Korea’s Hanwha Corporate Venture Capital spearheaded a US$50 million series C round of funding. Other participants included OIC, Catalus Capital, and Ascent Funds, along with existing investors.

About Those EV Sales…

As for the pace of EV sales, as of last year some automakers were anticipating a more of a buying spree. Still, the raw numbers indicate that auto buyers are not waiting around for the cost of EV batteries to drop any more.

“Americans bought a record 330,463 electric vehicles (EVs) in the second quarter of 2024,” Sean Tucker reported for Kelley Blue Book on July 12. That’s pretty impressive, considering the woes besetting Tesla these days.

“Shoppers drove home 11.3% more EVs than they did in the second quarter of last year and 23% more than in the first quarter of 2024, KBB elaborated (see more EV sales background here).

Just wait ’til those government fleets start rolling over to EVs. After some pokes and nudges from EV advocates, the US Postal Service is buying more EVs to replace thousands of vehicles in its aging delivery fleet.

The Department of Defense is another electrification laggard with a massive fleet of vehicles in its parking lot, but EV activity is finally beginning to pick up over at the Pentagon, including initial steps towards tactical vehicles as well as non-tactical applications.

Forge Battery’s interest in the DOD market for Supercell EV batteries is another indication that defense contractors are eager to see the US military electrify itself. Last September the company hooked up with the battery cell screening firm KULR to help smooth the way into the DOD supply chain, so stay tuned for more on that.

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Photo (cropped): New “Supercell” EV batteries are made with atomic layer deposition systems, adapted for commercial use to reduce costs and enhance performance (courtesy of Forge Nano).