Xerion Advanced Battery: Changing the Dynamics of Lithium Ion Battery Manufacturing

Rechargeable battery technology has steadily advanced over the past 35 years since the first release of a commercially viable commercial lithium-ion battery in 1985. Evolutionary changes in battery chemistries, improvements in electrolyte stability, and a refinement in electrode materials all have contributed to improved performance and lower cost. And a company that has taken major strides in pushing the envelope with disruptive technologies that yield low cost, high performing batteries is Dayton, OH based Xerion Advanced Battery. Xerion brings a revolutionary, proprietary method of electroplating lithium-ion battery materials through its two novel technologies— DirectPlate and StructurePore—to the table to manufacture high performing, low-cost batteries with lower carbon emissions. With this ground-breaking process and battery architecture, the company, under the guidance of Dr. John Busbee, Co-Founder and CEO, provides the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry with batteries with higher power density, longer range, improved safety and stability, rapid recharge at a significantly lower cost and with a greatly reduced carbon footprint.

The electric vehicle manufacturers have been fervently pursuing parity with internal combustion powered vehicles and need a high performing battery with a cost target of $100 kWh.

Xerion’s DirectPlate manufacturing process has demonstrated to several OEMs the ability to beat that cost target by 30-40 percent with a battery that recharges in ten (10) minutes. Xerion’s process can utilize much less expensive raw materials as input rather than expensive, highly refined battery materials. Electroplating is used as both a refining process for raw lithium, nickel, and cobalt concentrates directly from the mine as well as a deposition technique, so the battery materials are created in a single process. Traditional lithium ion batteries require several expensive, energy-intensive, high heat steps to refine the raw materials into high purity battery powders. Battery companies today have to import the highly refined battery materials from China and Korea, while Xerion can source its raw materials domestically. By starting with lower cost input materials, eliminating multiple steps in the refining process, and reducing logistics costs, Xerion’s batteries at scale will be much less expensive at $60/ kWh. An additional benefit of the DirectPlate process is an estimated 40-50 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared the end-to-end process of the traditional lithium ion manufacturing process.

“There are other companies in the market that have a low-cost model, but their battery performance suffers as the cost is reduced. Other manufacturers deliver high-energy batteries, but they can’t do fast charge and are expensive. Considering these dynamics, Xerion is the only company that is developing batteries that feature a range of performance improvements, low cost, and ecological sustainability,” remarks Busbee. Offering such eco-friendly, low-cost batteries without compromising on the performance or high energy of batteries makes Xerion stand above the competition. Additionally, the fact that organizations can now use unrefined materials in battery manufacturing will make it possible to have a completely domestic supply chain, which is will be a boon for the North American mining industry.

Xerion’s revolutionary technologies enable them to supply other products, including battery powder, electrodes, and complete battery cells to battery conglomerates. “If a client doesn’t want to immediately adopt our electrode architecture, we can sell them powder, ensuring meaningful cost savings over current sources,” adds Busbee. This flexibility helps align the supply chains in the various verticals to provide both savings and performance improvements that will trickle down to the consumer.

With pilot production lines in operation and a 1-gWH plant under construction, Xerion is poised to begin delivering product to the market. The company is providing manufacturing prototypes to early partners as the basis for evaluation and consideration in product design cycles, and will be in mass production in late 2021.