SK has invested an additional $35.9 million in SES (formerly SolidEnergy Systems), a developer of lithium-metal batteries. Coupled with its original $26.7 million investment in 2018, SK now becomes the third-largest shareholder of the battery company.
SES, which launched in 2012 as an MIT research lab startup, is headquartered in Singapore, and operates labs and pilot production facilities in Boston and Shanghai. In March, SES and GM—another investor in SES—signed a joint development agreement to establish a lithium-metal battery test production plant near Boston by 2023, targeting commercialization in 2025.
SES says it has addressed the dendrite safety problem associated with Li-metal batteries by treating lithium metal with a polymer coating and using a high-concentration electrolyte that suppresses dendrite formation.
SES has developed a hybrid method that combines a liquid electrolyte and a solid coating, which the company says is easier to implement than an all-solid solution.
Source: Green Car Congress