Start-up British sodium-ion technology battery developer Faradion is now able to push forward with its development program following the decision of three of its investors Finance Yorkshire, Rising Stars Growth Fund, and Haldor Topsoe (a global market leader in catalysis and related process technologies) to add to funding they and a Japanese electronics giant have already provided.
Faradion now has almost £2m (US$3m) of cash to invest in developing its ground breaking, low-cost and high-energy density batteries. The sodium-ion technology has the potential to revolutionize the supply of electric batteries for stationary storage, automotive applications and e-bikes.
Virtually all batteries currently available to power the new generation of low- or zero-emission electric vehicles rely on lithium, which is a more expensive and scarcer resource than sodium. In addition, sodium-ion battery technology offers enhanced safety, both in operation, but also crucially in transportation; for example it can be sent via air freight in a fully discharged state.
Faradion named after the English Victorian scientist Michael Faraday is at the forefront of developing a new technology based on sodium (or common salt), a widely available, low cost and stable ingredient which could slash the costs of electric vehicles and other products requiring battery power.
Faradion is headquartered at Sheffield University’s Innovation Centre, having put in place a pilot manufacturing line, with a second laboratory at Oxford’s Leafield Technical Centre. “With this latest demonstration of their support, our investors have provided us with the funds necessary to secure success,” said Faradion CEO Lawrence Berns. “We can now move forward quickly to proving and scaling up our solid-state low-cost batteries and, indeed, intend to demonstrate one in a dynamic environment very soon.”
