24M Technologies, a pioneering technology company revolutionising battery design and manufacturing, has developed a new battery packing system with unmatched energy density that can increase EV driving range by up to 50%. Called 24M ETOP™ (Electrode-to-Pack), the game-changing technology seals electrodes in thin polymer films that are then integrated directly into the pack to vastly improve packaging efficiencies.
Currently, battery manufacturers and car makers build modules and packs from individual cells meaning that lithium-ion batteries feature a large proportion of inactive, non-energy-carrying materials – such as supporting metals and plastics – within a cell’s casing, adding cost and wasting space.
24M ETOP replaces this approach by creating a sealed cathode/anode pair that eliminates the cell and module and unnecessary materials. This allows manufacturers to achieve the highest energy density for any chemistry (NMC, LFP, NCA, Sodium-ion, LTO, LiS, etc.) available at the pack level, because a higher percentage of the battery is electrodes, the energy-storing components.
In fact, 24M ETOP makes it possible for electrodes to comprise 80% of a pack’s volume, compared to the 30% to 60% of traditional battery packs. Crucially, this innovation also gives car makers a new choice: offer customers improved EV ranges by packing more energy into a same-sized pack or reduce EV costs by using less expensive chemistries.
For example, a 75kWh NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery – the size and type used by many mid-sized electric vehicles – with 24M ETOP could be increased to over 100kWh using the same chemistry, increasing range by 33% all in the same sized pack. With 24M ETOP it becomes possible to swap NMC chemistry for less expensive LFP (lithium-iron phosphate) technology, resulting in a less costly pack, but with the same overall range.
24M ETOP also offers unprecedented design flexibility that enables completely customisable battery packs in different voltages and virtually any shape. OEMs and designers can create shapes such as ovals and hexagons, or whatever is best to fit within the space available. This pack efficiency translates into higher performance and lower costs.
There are major manufacturing benefits too. Because electrodes are sealed individually, electrode safety tolerances do not have to be as tight as in a traditional battery, improving yield and safety while reducing investment costs by eliminating the need for traditional high tolerance and precision equipment.
Because the sealed electrodes can be flipped, they can be connected in series and parallel arrangements, enabling anything from a compact, 48V battery, all the way up to a mixed series/parallel 400-800V pack, giving battery designers further freedom. 24M ETOP also enables cell formation to be done in series which can reduce formation equipment investment, one of the largest CAPEX items in today’s lithium-ion battery factories.
Naoki Ota, President and CEO at 24M Technologies said: “Minimising packaging materials and wasted space, 24M ETOP brings a step change in performance, replacing traditional cell-to-module-to-pack construction with electrode-to-pack construction, maximising energy density. 24M ETOP makes it easier to build compact, flexible and safe high voltage batteries, presenting a revolutionary opportunity for electric vehicle manufacturers – longer ranges with the same chemistry or the same range with lower cost, safer chemistries, both in the same space. It truly is the closest version of an ideal battery – it is essentially all active material in a sophisticated wrapper.”
24M ETOP can also be used with 24M’s Impervio separator, Eternalyte electrolyte, and its LiForever electrode, all of which are aimed at creating a fundamentally safer, higher performing and longer-lived battery through the reimagination of internal battery design.
About 24M Technologies
24M Technologies, a pioneering battery technology company founded in 2010 from MIT labs, is revolutionising how the world makes batteries by addressing critical safety, cost, and performance barriers to widespread EV adoption. Through four groundbreaking innovations Impervio, a transformative separator technology that prevents catastrophic battery fires and monitors battery state of health and thereby enables targeted recalls; Eternalyte, a proprietary liquid electrolyte formula that enables over 1,600km battery range, rapid charging and unparalleled low temperature performance; 24M ETOP, a revolutionary pack design that maximises energy density by packing electrodes directly into battery packs; and LiForever, a chemistry agnostic semisolid electrode platform that lowers costs and makes up to 90% of a battery’s material cost effectively recyclable – it is enabling the transition to a cleaner, electrified future. Working with leading industry players worldwide, including energy storage system integrators, EV battery manufacturers and OEMs, it combines decades of battery expertise with innovative thinking to develop safer, longer lasting, and more affordable battery solutions that meet the world’s growing energy demands.
