Lyten Secures $4 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant to Accelerate Commercialization of High-Capacity, Long Cycle-Life Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
Summary
Additionally, the chemistry does not require critical minerals such as nickel and cobalt in the cathode or graphite in the anode, enabling a locally sourced, locally manufactured EV battery.The DoE grant awards for lithium-sulfur follow the passage of National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law last month with bi-partisan support, which will prohibit the U.S. Defense Department from buying batteries produced by Chinas largest manufacturers starting in October 2027. This ban reinforces the urgency to accelerate the development and rapid scale up of rechargeable cells with alternative battery chemistries, like lithium-sulfur, that offer localized supply chains for strategic defense applications and high energy density to support mobility and transportation electrification. Separately, Lyten is a subrecipient on a DoE grant awarded to Purdue University to improve modeling capabilities for lithium-sulfur cells.Lithium-sulfur is a chemistry known for decades to potentially hold two to three times the energy density of lithium-ion but was not envisioned to come into the market until the 2030s due to material science challenges. In June 2023, Lyten opened a semi-automated, lithium-sulfur pilot line producing pouch and cylindrical cells on its 145,000-square-foot campus in Silicon Valley and will begin to deliver non-EV cells commercially in 2024.In 3Q 2023, Lyten announced it had raised $200 million through a Series B round, bringing total investment up to $410 million to scale 3D Graphene applications and lithium-sulfur battery manufacturing. Lytens proprietary processes permanently sequester carbon from methane in the form of 3D Graphene and utilize the tunable supermaterial to develop decarbonizing applications.