Closing Summary
After working on Solid State batteries, Dr. Yao realized the harm that cobalt caused and knew there had to be an alternative material to operate batteries. He began researching potential cobalt alternatives but soon realized there was nothing powerful enough to replace cobalt in Solid State batteries. Dr. Yao knew there had to be some way to make organic cathodes as effective as cobalt cathodes and through extensive research, he finally the necessary lithium composition to power a battery.
Dr. Yao found out that if you could reverse the resistive interface that typically makes organic cathodes so weak, the batteries could be just as strong as cobalt based batteries, while using a more sustainable, cost-efficient metal. He started off with sodium based batteries but soon realized that sodium can't uphold the battery's needs. He switched to lithium in order to create Solid State batteries that maximize performance while minimizing cost and environmental impact.
When looking for the best application for our organic, solid-state battery, we looked for markets where cost reduction was a pain point and there was a high volume of production. After talking to industry professionals and looking at the direction that other Solid State battery start-ups are headed in, we found the Electric Vehicle (EV) market. EV batteries account for over half of the cost of the vehicles. They also require massive batteries which means a lot of cobalt needs to be acquired. This reliance on cobalt causes supply chain issues because it is a rare metal and causes damage to the planet.
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Originally, we wanted to find our initial partner and launch ourselves in the United States. After speaking with academics, industry professionals, and end-users, we realized that EV manufacturers such as Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors, and Tesla are either already aligned with either a Solid-State battery start-up or they are building their battery in-house. As a result, we decided to partner with Groupe PSA, a European car manufacturer. Groupe PSA is a French multinational manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands. We decided to switch and partner in Europe instead of U.S. because the demand for EV's is high, the funding for Solid-State research is available yet untapped, and manufacturers are on the lookout to partner with a startup instead of already being committed.