Graphene for Automotive - Page 4

German chemicals company, Evonik, has invested an undisclosed sum in China-based battery specialist SuperC.

The Chinese company produces graphene materials for, among other applications, lithium-ion batteries. The materials are said to have the potential to solve key limitations of electric vehicles and accelerate the shift to climate-friendly mobility. 

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has announced it has received full and final approval of all its graphene products from the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under Assessment statement CA09624.

AICIS approval allows GMG to significantly increase the production and sale of GMG graphene-enhanced products including:

• Coatings: THERMAL-XR® and other industrial coatings as developed;
• Automotive Fluids: G® LUBRICANT, G® COOLANT and other automotive liquids as developed;
• Fuel: G® DIESEL ; and
• Batteries: including for GMG’s Graphene Aluminium Ion Battery.

Project Arrow, a collaboration between nearly 60 different companies in Canada that is led by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), aims to develop an all-Canadian electric SUV. A few days ago, at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) event in Las Vegas, a fully operational prototype was unveiled.

Reports suggest that the Canadian government contributed CAD$5 million (over USD$3.7 million) toward the electric compact SUV’s development. Ontario pledged CAD$1.8 million (over USD$1.3 million) and Quebec said it would allocate CAD$1.4 million (over USD$1 million) over 18 months to small- and medium-sized businesses that make connected or autonomous zero-emission automotive components and systems, including those looking to get involved with Project Arrow.

NASA's SABERS (Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety) project, which has been going on for a few years under NASA’s “high risk, high reward” research program, aims to develop batteries with improved power density (preferably ones that could make electric flight feasible, which required around 480 watt-hour per kilogram).

Work taking place at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, by an engineering team lead by Dr. Rocco Viggiano, is aiming to produce batteries that are powerful, light, fast to charge, scalable to any application, and extremely safe. The scientists are doing so by getting rid of the toxic and dangerous materials that make current batteries too inefficient and risky to put in a plane, for example. 

Zentek recently announced the start of a 4-year, CAD$1,600,000 (around USD$1,172,000) research project in collaboration with Professors Mohini Sain and Ning Yan from the University of Toronto (“U of T”) and Ford Powertrain Engineering Research and Development Centre (“PERDC”).

Funding for the project includes CAD$1.2 million (around USD$879,000) from the Mitacs Accelerate program. Prof. Sain is the Endowed Ford Motor Canada Chair in Sustainable Materials where he is active in the field of light energy storage including cell chemistry and renewable fuel battery development at PERDC, and Prof. Yan is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Bioproducts. Collaborating with the PERDC and testing at this facility is essential to demonstrate battery advances at a scale suitable for the automotive industry. 

Skeleton Technologies has officially launched its SuperBattery, and unveiled Shell as its partner. Skeleton is joining a Shell-led consortium to offer electrification solutions for mining sites.

SuperBattery is an innovative technology combining the characteristics of supercapacitors and batteries. SuperBattery has been developed to serve the needs of several sectors and is currently being used and/or tested in hybrid and fuel cell EVs, buses, trucks, and charging infrastructure.

Martinrea International, a global automotive supplier of value-added lightweight structures and propulsion systems (that has a collaboration with NanoXplore), was named a 2022 Automotive News PACE Award winner at the awards ceremony on September 19. 

Martinrea was recognized for its brake lines with GrapheneGuard, which is said to be the first use of graphene in an automotive brake line application. Martinrea recognized the potential of graphene and developed the revolutionary GrapheneGuard coating technology which incorporates graphene into nylon. The development of GrapheneGuard is a convergence of material science innovation and process engineering that brings to the automotive market a brake line coating that reportedly has unmatched properties. The material can provide up to 25 percent weight savings while simultaneously demonstrating superior strength, greater abrasion protection, and improved chemical resistance, all while utilizing current manufacturing equipment and processes.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) has signed a supply agreement with a global leader in the car detailing industry for an exclusively developed graphene-based solution. The partnership with an undisclosed 'global household name brand' is said to represent a significant milestone for AGM in the car care sector, where it has already announced multiple product launches with smaller participants.

AGM said its new partner is driving innovation in the market and now leads the way in the supply of high-performance auto detailing and finishing products. The addition of AGM's Genable graphene nanoplatelet dispersion technology into car care systems has the potential to significantly improve the barrier performance of waxes, polishes and finishing sprays for vehicles, the company added.

UK-based startup Anaphite has announced the closing of a £4.1-million (around US$4.8 million) seed round, led by Elbow Beach Capital with a £1.5-million (US$1.8 million) investment and supported by Wealth Club, Blue Wire Capital, Oxford Investment Opportunity Network, Zero Carbon Capital, Silicon Roundabout Ventures and Deeptech Labs.

Anaphite incorporates graphene into battery materials, via an inexpensive and scalable process that fits directly into existing cell production lines. Anaphite mainly focuses on the enhancement of lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle industry, for which it aims to reduce battery manufacturing costs by over 10%. The company’s technology is also said to improve battery capacity and charge rates, potentially reducing charging time by 50%.

Appear Inc. has announced the launch of its high-performance, fast-charge, longer-lasting battery packs for electric vehicles. Appear's graphene battery packs can be fully charged in less than 60 minutes. Appear's latest battery cells offer higher capacity, increased safety and an industry-leading 3C fast charge capability.

Appear Graphene Li-Ion batteries are reportedly safer, offer fast charge (up to 3C) and have a longer cycle life (1000 cycles) than traditional Li-Ion batteries. The distinctive batteries also have higher discharge capacity (up to 15C), which enables bikes to have rapid acceleration, steep climb/higher torque and race mode in sport bikes.