Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) and Nyobolt are working on the next generation of high power-density Niobium based batteries
An engineering and systems integration partnership deal has been struck between Williams Advanced Engineering and niobium-based battery start-up company, Nyobolt. The new deal has been designed to support and advance an additional means of solving the challenges being faced for the next generation of high power battery systems for automotive applications.
The initial steps in this partnership will be to further assess and develop the technology in a close collaboration, with the next steps being technology demonstration activities to grow market awareness of this exciting technological development.
Nyobolt, a fast growing company tracing its roots to Cambridge University, was founded by Professor Clare Grey and Dr Sai Shivareddy to introduce ultra-fast charging batteries into the market based on a decade of research on new battery anode materials.
Ultra-Fast Charging
The new class of battery technology has been designed to support ultra-fast charging capability, ideally suited to motorsport applications; a sector in which WAE is currently playing a major role supporting battery provision for Extreme E, Formula E Gen 3 and ETCR.
In addition, the technology will be appropriate for heavy duty powertrains such as those used in mining, a sector currently targeting a zero emissions goal.
With a life cycle significantly higher than standard lithium-ion batteries, the technology is perfectly suited for next generation applications that require high power, long life or high cycling. The market opportunity is expected to be over 30 gigawatt hours.
According to Paul McNamara, Technical Director, Williams Advanced Engineering, the technology is likely to address a wide range of opportunities across a number of diverse applications.
“We are delighted to be part of this engineering and systems integration partnership and we look forward to working with the team at Nyobolt”, he said.
Nyobolt CEO Dr Sai Shivareddy believes that the technology that’s being developed by the company is perfectly suited to the arenas within which Williams Advanced Engineering operates, including electric powertrains and other power hungry applications ranging from motorsports to heavy industrial applications.
“Nyobolt is on a mission to supercharge the electric revolution with our ultra-fast charging, ultra-high power density battery systems and we are delighted to be part of this exciting collaboration with Williams,” he concludes.
Development Funding
With the capabilities that are claimed for the new battery chemistry, there is the potential to have a ground-breaking effect on the future of Battery Electric Vehicles across multiple applications. This potential wasn’t lost on IQ Capital, which led a $10 million fundraising round for Nyobolt in Spring this year.
IQ Capital were impressed by the team, products and commercial traction so far and are convinced that Nyobolt will have a revolutionary impact on Li-ion battery applications, and create new previously impossible uses in markets worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
“Nyobolt is a ‘new gen’ deeptech start-up founded by a highly experienced team with multiple prior successes; it is based on highly differentiated, patented and highly scalable technology,” says Max Bautin, managing partner of IQ Capital.
Cambridge Enterprise was similarly impressed with their investment director saying the organisation recognised that this technology would have the potential to be a paradigm shift in ultrafast battery charging and the importance and significance of this to the post-carbon world cannot be overstated.
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