Thornton-based Solid Power has a $50 million federal grant to ramp up development of the solid-state EV batteries it considers the technology of the near-future in automobiles, putting the company closer to its goal of developing a mass production facility in the eastern U.S. or Korea.
The current EV battery market is dominated by liquid-based lithium-ion versions, and solid-state researchers believe their models are safer and offer more driving range to settle “range anxiety” fears among potential buyers. The federal grant for Solid Power, announced Friday, will allow the company to expand to a continuous manufacturing line in Colorado of the sulfide-based solid electrolytes to replace the smaller batch system currently in place.
The grant should allow Solid Power, which manufactures battery parts in Louisville and Thornton, to go from the current 30 metric tons a year of solid electrolytes to 140 tons by 2028, company CEO John Van Scoter said in an interview.
If the expansion proves that Solid Power’s product is technically and financially competitive in the growing EV battery market, Van Scoter said, the company would keep its headquarters in Colorado but look to build a mass production factory closer to major vehicle assembly plants in the eastern U.S. or in Korea. Right now there has been more interest in Solid Power from Korean manufacturers, he said.
Other battery-makers in the U.S. are announcing multi-billion dollar factories to produce full, EV-ready products, Van Scoter said. Solid Power’s approach takes about one-tenth the capital, he said — building smaller factories to focus on producing the electrolyte portion.
“Our approach is different. Yes, we develop all-solid-state battery cells, and that’s what we license to the likes of BMW and others. But we don’t ever intend to actually build the volume of those cells. We license it to those companies, then they go ahead and ramp it into very high volume, and then we ship to them the electrolyte,” Van Scoter said.
Solid Power has about $350 million in cash on its balance sheet, Van Scoter said, from previous equity offerings. But the large federal grant “allows us to accelerate that first phase of expansion into 2026. So that puts us in a much better position to maintain the lead that we have today and to satisfy customers sooner, if demand materializes,” he said.
Solid Power draws on technology developed by University of Colorado engineering professors, who successfully answered a U.S. Department of Defense call for better rechargeable battery designs.
The expansion adds to EV technology momentum in Adams County.
The Greeley Tribune reported that “Amprius Technologies, based in Fremont, California, is converting an abandoned Kmart distribution hub on East Bromley Lane in Brighton into a 775,000-square-foot facility employing 330 workers making lithium-ion batteries.” The news outlet also reported in April that a battery manufacturer named TDK Ventures had been awarded potential Adams County and other job incentives if it chose Colorado over other bidding locations in Michigan, Kentucky and California.
Competition from new battery technologies and improved lithium-ion versions is fierce, Solid Power acknowledges.
“Lithium ion batteries are constantly improving, but still approaching the theoretical limits of what lithium ion can do,” Van Scoter said. “For solid state, depending on what you want to assume, it could be two or three times the critical limit of traditional liquid based lithium ion batteries.”
Safety is another advantage, Van Scoter said, with the liquid state of lithium-ion contributing to dangerous battery fires. Solid state batteries are less flammable in typical traffic accidents, scientists say.
Solid Power said the expansion would create 40 Colorado jobs over time, and employ union construction workers during the building phase. The company is also seeking local incentives for the expansion.
The potential $50 million grant will now be negotiated in detail with the U.S. Department of Energy, which is spending Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds and Inflation Reduction Act money on renewable energy and electrification projects around the country.
“There were 25 awardees. We are the only ones on the list as a material provider or battery producer for all-solid-state batteries,” Van Scoter said. “So we really view it as a strong, strong validation of the approach that we’ve been taking and the focus that we have, and the partners we’ve been able to attract to the technology.”