April 23, 2012 — IBM (NYSE:IBM) welcomed Asahi Kasei and Central Glass to its Battery 500 Project team, collaborating on far-reaching research to improve electric vehicles (EV). Asahi Kasei will engineer membrane technologies and Central Glass will develop electrolytes and additives for lithium-air batteries.
The goal of Battery 500, founded in 2009, is to power a family-sized electric car for approximately 500 miles on 1 charge of its lithium-air battery. Its aim is to make lithium-air batteries affordable, lightweight, compact and higher-capacity.
New materials development is vitally important to ensuring the viability of lithium-air battery technology,” said Tatsuya Mori, Director, Executive Managing Officer, Central Glass.
The new partners expand the scope of IBM Research’s project, and “share our vision of electric cars being critical components” to a more renewable future, said Dr. Winfried Wilcke, IBM’s Principle Investigator who initiated the Battery 500 Project. They will help bring the project from lab work to the road, where today’s electric vehicles require a recharge about every 100 miles, on conventional lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-air batteries have higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, due to their lighter cathodes and the fact that their primary fuel is the oxygen readily available in the atmosphere. To popularize electric cars, an energy density 10x greater than that of conventional lithium-ion batteries is needed.
“This alliance allows us to explore a new path to developing an improved rechargeable battery performance that can not be met with conventional technologies,” said Tetsuro Ohta, Head of Advanced Battery Materials Development Center, Asahi Kasei.
This research will take place at IBM Research – Almaden in California.
Scientists at IBM Research-Almaden started the Battery 500 Project in 2009 to develop a Lithium-Air battery that could travel 500 miles on a single charge. Leveraging IBM’s leadership across science and technology in chemistry, physics, nanotechnology and supercomputing modeling in both its Almaden and Zurich laboratories, this research is also done in conjunction with the other Battery 500 Project collaborators, including national laboratories. Learn more at www.ibm.com.
Asahi Kasei is a leading global supplier of separator membrane for lithium-ion batteries.
Central Glass is a leading global electrolyte manufacturer for lithium-ion batteries.