SHANGHAI (Reuters) — Taiwanese battery manufacturer ProLogium Technology Co announced on Thursday that it had reached a collaboration deal with Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz to develop testing vehicles with solid-state batteries co-developed by the two companies shortly.
ProLogium, in a statement, stated it would get “high double-digit” million euros in investments by ProLogium, a German luxury car manufacturer, which will also sit on the ProLogium board.
The battery maker has said that it would use the money to develop battery technology and aid in establishing manufacturing capacity across Europe.
The two parties also agreed on essential milestones in applying solid-state battery technology in a variety of passenger vehicles during the second part of the decade, ProLogium stated but without expounding.
“Solid-state technology helps to cut down battery size and weight,” Markus Shafer, chief technology officer of ProLogium, a German automaker, stated. “This is why we are partnering with companies like ProLogium.”
Solid-state batteries use small layers of liquid electrolytes that carry lithium Ions between electrodes. They’re viewed as a possibility of a revolution in electric cars (EVs) since they can hold a vehicle’s energy, charge quickly, and are more secure than lithium-ion batteries that depend upon liquid electrolytes.
ProLogium has been named the latest manufacturer of batteries to partner with Mercedes-Benz in how the German automaker is working to make all its vehicles entirely electric by 2030 and keep pace with EV market leader Tesla Inc. Other Mercedes-Benz battery partners include Factorial Energy, Automotive Cells Co, and Farasis Energy.
The latest tie-up happens when EV-sector firms are competing to create next-generation batteries to reduce costs and decrease “range anxiety.”
Last January, the Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles NIO Inc said it would launch its ET7 sedan equipped with a battery pack of 150 kilowatts that includes solid-state batteries starting from the fourth quarter of 2022.
ProLogium stated that it plans to accelerate the development of its new plant before 2022’s end to begin the mass-production of its solid-state battery.
The battery manufacturer received $326 million in its most recent round of funding with investors that included Primavera Capital Group and SoftBank China Venture Capital.
