Mercedes-Benz has plans to incorporate a new, highly energy-dense battery in its upcoming electric G-Class from 2025.
The automaker, on Tuesday, revealed that the move is aimed at solving the problem of how to power large electric cars without weighing them down with heavy batteries.
The battery, made by start-up Sila Nanotechnologies, uses silicon-based anodes and is 20-40% more energy dense than comparable cells currently available, Mercedes-Benz said.
Silicon – which Tesla said in 2020 it would build up the use of in its batteries – provides an alternative to the more commonly used graphite, 70% of which comes from China.
Mercedes-Benz is the first publicly announced automotive customer of California-based battery start-up Sila Nanotechnologies, which said in early May it was investing a figure in the low hundreds of millions of dollars in a new plant in Washington state due to open in 2024.
The premium carmaker has a minority equity stake in the unlisted Sila, which is also working with BMW .
Sila, founded by an ex-Tesla engineer, raised an additional $590 million last year, boosting its valuation to an estimated $3.3 billion. (Reuters)er
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