The most widespread type of battery, lithium-ion, still costs around $140 per kilowatt-hour for a pack.
Instead, manufacturers have started to explore sodium-ion batteries, not as a replacement, but as a complement to lithium-ion.
To deliver that many batteries, Unigrid isn’t going to be building its own factories.
Small vehicles like these are popular in India and Southeast Asia, where the intense heat can make lithium-ion batteries prone to overheating.
To get its sodium-ion batteries into production, Unigrid has raised a $12 million Series A.
Wastewater from these plants emerges laden with sodium sulfate, a byproduct of sulfuric acid and caustic soda, two chemicals used in battery manufacturing, copper refining and other industries.
“We can totally create a circular economy around these reagent chemicals,” Bilen Akuzum, co-founder and CTO of Aepnus Technology, told TechCrunch.
The two founded Aepnus to modernize the century-old chloralkali process, which splits salts like sodium sulfate back into the acids and bases that created them.
“We don’t use any expensive catalysts in our electrolyzers,” Akuzum said.
For customers, fully recycling sodium sulfate waste should reduce disposal and material costs.
EnerVenue, a startup that has developed an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for long-duration renewable energy storage, is raising $515 million in fresh equity, per an SEC filing seen by TechCrunch.
The company is in the process of building a gigawatt-scale factory in Kentucky to produce its nickel-hydrogen batteries, an endeavor that’s estimated to cost $264 million.
So far, EnerVenue has raised $308 million of the $515 million target, the filing says.
Nickel-hydrogen batteries aren’t as energy dense as lithium-ion, meaning they won’t be competing for space in electric vehicles quite yet.
The next challenge will be completing the factory, scaling production and sending its novel batteries out into the world.
The company Wednesday issued an email requesting customers discontinue use of its egg-shaped charging case.
The company says it launched an investigation following a “single complaint” of a charging issue from a customer.
Humane is far from the first consumer electronics company to ship products with potentially hazardous batteries.
According to the note, the Charge Case is the only Humane product affected by this news.
Neither its Battery Boost or Charging Pad have been singled out by the company.
On Thursday, Apple announced that it has opened its iPhone repair process to include used components.
Today’s news adds all components — including the battery, display and camera — which Apple requires to be configured for full functionality.
“‘Parts pairing’ is used a lot outside and has this negative connotation,” Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, tells TechCrunch.
“I think it’s led people to believe that we somehow block third-party parts from working, which we don’t.
Ternus cites a recent UL Solutions study as evidence that third-party battery modules, in particular, can present a hazard to users.
Alsym wants to ‘light up homes for a billion people’ with its new batteryLithium-ion batteries have transformed the global economy, making possible everything from smartphones and laptops to electric vehicles, e-bikes, and more.
With the advent of cheap solar, making electricity has never been cheaper or easier.
The electrolyte is water-based, a departure from the flammable organic solvents used in lithium-ion batteries.
Alsym also says its batteries will be cheaper than lithium-ion, thanks to the less exotic materials and simpler packs.
Ultimately, it will partner with existing battery manufacturers, since Alsym’s batteries can be produced using existing equipment.
For years, the solar energy sector has grappled with interseasonal energy storage.
The claim is this tech does the storage more cost-effectively than any battery or liquid hydrogen solution on the market.
It enables hydrogen storage at densities approximately 50% greater than liquid hydrogen, presenting a significant advancement in hydrogen storage solutions.
A robust, reusable energy storage solution could bridge these timings, ensuring a stable energy supply when these renewable sources encounter unavoidable intermittent periods.
The firm certainly has investors’ attention: Photoncycle just raised $5.3 million (€5 million) to build its first few power storage devices in Denmark, which Photoncycle has chosen as its test market.
Just like battery-electric cars 20 years ago, hydrogen fuel cell cars suffer from the old chicken and the egg problem.
Nobody wants to buy a fuel cell vehicle until the supporting infrastructure is in place, but it’s tough to invest in infrastructure when nobody owns a fuel cell vehicle.
Honda sees four ways to apply the second-generation hydrogen fuel cell: in consumer and commercial fuel cell vehicles, in stationary power stations and in construction machinery.
Honda learned that Clarity Fuel Cell owners usually drove very short distances, five or 10 miles at a time and a hydrogen fuel cell isn’t the most efficient on quick trips.
The fuel cell CR-V has a 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster with all the power-delivery information your nerdy brain could possibly want.
Just like battery-electric cars 20 years ago, hydrogen fuel cell cars suffer from the old chicken and the egg problem.
Nobody wants to buy a fuel cell vehicle until the supporting infrastructure is in place, but it’s tough to invest in infrastructure when nobody owns a fuel cell vehicle.
Honda sees four ways to apply the second-generation hydrogen fuel cell: in consumer and commercial fuel cell vehicles, in stationary power stations and in construction machinery.
A Honda CR-V with a twistHonda is not new to the hydrogen fuel cell game.
2025 Honda CRV e:FCEV inside and outThe e:FCEV looks a lot like the standard CR-V, but those with sharp eyes will notice a few key differences.
Coreshell, a battery materials startup, revealed a breakthrough this week that could lower the cost of lithium-ion batteries.
Forecasts for cheaper EVs are counting on a steady stream of technological improvements, including better battery materials.
Coreshell’s first product will be a silicon anode paired with a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cathode.
Coreshell predicts that its silicon anodes might even give LFP an edge over traditional NMC cells with graphite anodes.
Granted, their silicon anode materials will cost more, but they’ll have the benefit of scale and experience to help bring costs down.
