CARLSBAD BATTERY COMPANY WINS $13M TO EXPAND
American Lithium aims to double its workforce this year
Carlsbad’s American Lithium Energy, a battery research shop largely for the defense sector, has landed $13.2 million in grants from the California Energy Commission to build a pilot lithium-ion manufacturing facility aimed at zero-emission vehicles.
The funding will bulk up American Lithium Energy’s production capabilities to 20 cells per minute. It hopes to produce 1.5 million high-performance batteries over the next 18 months for electric vehicles and other uses.
While that’s low volume compared with battery giants in Asia such as Panasonic, it’s up from American Lithium’s current production for research, military and medical device projects, which is about 8,000 cells per year.
The company is in the throes of raising $13 million in private matching funds required by the grant. It expects its headcount to increase from 35 to 75 workers by the end of this year and reach 150 in late 2024.
“Customer feedback and demand for ALE’s proprietary (lithium-ion battery) cells has been strong and is growing rapidly, and we believe we are best positioned to usher in a new era of safety and performance across our key markets, including government and defense,” said Jiang Fan, founder and chairman.
Since 2006, the company has been developing technology that boosts energy density, performance at extreme temperatures (60 Celsius to minus 40 Celsius) and safety in lithium-ion batteries.Much of its research has been funded by the military, Department of Energy or Small Business Innovation Research grants. The company has 40 patents, includ
ing 15 around lithium-ion battery safety.
One of its technologies — called zero-volt — allows lithium-ion batteries to be completely discharged without damaging their chemistry, reducing fire risk during shipping or long gaps between usage.
American Lithium Energy worked with Northrop Grumman on batteries for prototype aircraft, which have specific power and energy requirements, said Jeff Knowles, an electrical engineer at Northrop Grumman. Other customers include Raytheon, L3 Harris and Black & Decker, which has a battery safety licensing agreement with American Lithium’s sister company, Amionx.
In addition, the company was involved in clinical trials for a monitoring device system for pacemakers.
“We will always focus on the niche, higher-end side of the battery cell manufacturing for defense, aerospace, medical,” said William Hadala, head of business development. “At the same time, this is more of a commercial application (for zero-emission vehicles.) We are going to make this work — manufacturing in California.”