One of the Obama Administration’s recently announced initiatives to promote EV adoption is the Battery500 consortium, which will be led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and includes several other national laboratories and universities. The group will receive up to $10 million a year over five years from the DOE.

The goal of Battery500 is to build a battery pack with a specific energy of 500 Wh/kg, which would be a major improvement over the 170-200 Wh/kg achieved by most current batteries. Battery500 also hopes to bring battery costs below $100/kWh.

The team plans to concentrate on lithium-metal batteries, with a lithium anode and a cathode containing lithium and other materials. A key focus will be to develop solutions that meet the needs of the automotive industry. The immediate goal is to make more effective and affordable batteries for EVs, but the consortium’s work could also advance stationary energy storage.

Source: Green Car Congress