Prismatic cells, which are rectangular and stacked in layers, offer added mechanical protection and performance advantages, while the flat surface simplifies the integration into electric vehicles with better thermal management and safety considerations – helping to reduce pack assembly cost and complexity.
However, the transition from pouch to prismatic cells, and moreover, the integration of silicon-based chemistry with XFC capability in prismatic packaging, has introduced several engineering challenges and manufacturing complexities.
The solution, developed by StoreDot’s global teams, is based on careful design of the stack thickness, formation currents and pressure regimes as well as managing the associated swelling of silicon-dominant anode technology and high currents in a prismatic hard case enclosure.
By overcoming these hurdles, StoreDot has shown its XFC technology is factor-agnostic and can be adapted to different cell form factors needed by automakers. The company said that it would continue to optimise the design to achieve up to 170Ah of cell capacity and over 700 Wh/L volumetric energy density.
Dr Doron Myersdorf, CEO StoreDot said, "Successfully producing and passing initial tests of prismatic cells represents a huge leap towards delivering our XFC batteries in a format that can easily integrate into mass-produced EVs. By mastering prismatic XFC cell design, we are now able to offer our OEM partners batteries in the format they need with the game-changing charging speed of our XFC technology – 100 miles of range in 5 minutes of charging.
“This milestone moves us decisively closer to mass adoption of affordable, long-range EVs capable of extreme fast charging – creating an experience similar to fuelling an internal combustion engine. Our global teams have done outstanding work overcoming key technical hurdles associated with the prismatic design, particularly when working with a silicon-dominant anode. We are firmly on track for the major milestone of mass production readiness this year."
The announcement follows StoreDot’s news earlier this year that it had unveiled a breakthrough XFC concept for taking extreme fast charging from the cell to the vehicle level with its new I-BEAM XFC design, an innovative cell-to-pack concept that will also accelerate XFC integration into EVs.
