00:00You've poured years of research into this new technology.
00:03Just tell us about how game-changing it's going to be.
00:07So our battery is a lithium metal battery,
00:10and what it generally does is it replaces the graphite,
00:14which is the dominant technology lithium ion today.
00:18So in your cell phone and in everybody's car,
00:21half of the battery is graphite,
00:23and graphite doesn't actually contribute
00:25to the electrochemical reaction in the battery.
00:28It's simply a host material.
00:30So if you want a lighter battery
00:31that is going to have more capacity
00:33and extend range for driving,
00:36you can eliminate half of the weight and half of the volume
00:39by replacing that graphite with lithium metal.
00:42So that is essentially what our battery is,
00:45and we pair it with a cathode called lithium iron phosphate,
00:48which is ubiquitously used here in China and elsewhere
00:51in lithium ion technology.
00:53So how does it compare with a standard lithium ion battery
00:56in terms of energy density, in terms of cost of production?
00:59Well, there's a lot of benefits.
01:01So our battery is made in what is called the charge state.
01:04So we reduce the actual OPEX and CAPEX by a combined 40%
01:09because we don't have to send our lithium
01:11from the cathode to the anode in production.
01:13And the beauty of it is we can make this battery in one day,
01:16and traditional lithium ion battery manufacturing,
01:20getting that lithium molecule out of the ground
01:22and into your battery can take over 500 days.
01:26So if we're in a place like this amazing country, China,
01:29and watching this awe-inspiring transition
01:32from internal combustion engines to batteries everywhere,
01:35we want to bring these batteries online immediately.
01:38Lithium metal is an excellent way to do it,
01:40and it's half of the weight
01:42and double the energy density of the battery
01:45that we're all using today.
01:47And how close are you to mass production right now?
01:50We are building a pilot line right now in Chicago,
01:54and we're looking for partners
01:56to help us commercialize this battery.
01:58We believe that this battery,
01:59which was actually invented in 1977,
02:03is going to displace lithium ion
02:05just like the CD player was replaced by the iPod
02:11and then the iPhone
02:12or the vacuum tube and transistor
02:14and semiconductor industry.
02:15And this is a battery
02:16that can truly democratize energy storage for people.
02:19It's a low-cost technology.
02:22Yeah.
02:22How easy has it been to convince potential clients?
02:26Have you locked in early clients so far?
02:28It's a battery that everyone wants,
02:30so we're in discussion with over 40 companies
02:33and a lot of battery manufacturers to partner
02:35and help us deploy this technology quickly.
02:38And it's a technology that, again,
02:40has been around since the 70s
02:42and was invented originally by Nobel laureate
02:45Professor Stan Whittingham,
02:47who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
02:50for the lithium ion battery.
02:52So all of the manufacturers are very familiar with it.
02:55What we have done is make it low-cost,
02:58and we have a very good way to make our lithium anode,
03:02a whole battery component in just one step
03:05using this magic called electro-deposition.
03:09We can't talk about batteries
03:10without talking about the Chinese frontrunners
03:13like CATL, BYD, Goshen.
03:15They have been investing a lot
03:17in creating the next generation of batteries.
03:19So I'm talking about sodium ion
03:21instead of lithium ion.
03:23They're also looking into solid-state batteries
03:25that are supposed to be more energy-dense as well.
03:28How does your battery compare to these new frontiers
03:32of the battery space?
03:33Yes.
03:33Well, and CATL, too, is also working on lithium metal.
03:37So it's a very interesting question
03:39because these batteries are different.
03:42Sodium ion has substantially less energy density.
03:45Sodium is a very big molecule,
03:48so it's bulkier.
03:49So sodium ion is probably best suited
03:52for, say, stationary or grid storage.
03:54Goshen actually has a factory in Illinois
03:57where I am in the United States.
03:59And solid-state batteries,
04:01so that's a very complicated subject matter,
04:04and I do not believe it will actually happen
04:06in our lifetime.
04:07You need some liquid in the cell
04:09to facilitate the shuttle of lithium ions
04:13back and forth.
04:14And solid-state batteries are incredibly difficult
04:16to manufacture,
04:18and they're very, very expensive to manufacture.
04:21And there truly is no benefit.
04:23There's no evidence that they're safer
04:25than a lithium metal battery
04:27with a little bit of liquid.
04:29The problem has been, historically,
04:31when you put lithium metal
04:32with a liquid electrolyte,
04:33it's not particularly compatible.
04:35But at Pure Lithium,
04:36we have a brand-new electrolyte
04:38that's a blend of readily available materials,
04:40and we've gotten over 8,500 cycles.
04:45What does that mean?
04:46It means the levelized cost of energy storage
04:48could be reduced by 75%.
04:50And in places that are very dense,
04:52you want a smaller battery.
04:54If you have a microgrid,
04:56you don't necessarily want a battery
04:58that's enormous.
04:59So this battery is ubiquitous,
05:01it's very simple to manufacture,
05:03and you can use inexpensive sources of lithium.
05:07You don't have to go through
05:08a carbonate or a hydroxide step.
05:10There's many benefits.
05:12Yes, and you're obviously here in China now.
05:14Are you pursuing partnerships
05:16or looking for clients?
05:17Who's on your meeting agenda?
05:19A hundred percent.
05:20It is awe-inspiring to be in China.
05:23And the scale and the speed
05:25at which companies like CATL
05:27have commercialized these batteries
05:29is remarkable.
05:30So if we believe this battery
05:32is going to displace lithium-ion,
05:35which we do,
05:36then we need all of the partners
05:38around the world
05:38to help us produce this battery.
05:40And China's one of the largest markets,
05:42the largest producers of batteries in the world.
05:44So it's really an honor to be here.
05:47And we would love to work
05:48with our Chinese partners.
05:50Your technology really capitalizes
05:52on replacing the vulnerabilities
05:54of the rare supply chain
05:56and reducing reliance on China.
05:58Do you expect any geopolitical headwinds
06:00either from the U.S. or Chinese government?
06:02Well, it's interesting
06:03because just because our battery
06:04doesn't require graphite,
06:07which is 95% produced in China,
06:09doesn't mean that we don't want
06:11to work with China
06:12to produce our battery.
06:14You know, the United States
06:15has a very difficult road to climb
06:18if we want to make batteries.
06:20And I do not believe
06:21that we can compete with CATL,
06:23with lithium-ion,
06:25because we don't have
06:26the natural resources.
06:27The beauty of our battery
06:28is we don't use nickel,
06:29we don't use cobalt.
06:31And that's phenomenal
06:33because the battery is safer
06:35and these materials are easier
06:37to actually procure.
06:38Our next generation battery
06:40uses vanadium
06:40and there's abundant vanadium
06:43in China.
06:43China's one of the largest
06:44producers of vanadium.
06:46So it's about using
06:47different materials
06:48and enabling localized supply chains.
06:52Yes.
06:52This battery should be manufactured
06:53all around the globe
06:54and it can be
06:55because all of the materials
06:57are fairly ubiquitous.
06:58It's just a matter of
06:59having the will
07:00to make this change.
07:01change.
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