The first component of the system is an LFP, or lithium iron phosphate battery. Although it doesn’t pack as much energy as NMC chemistry, it has fewer of the costly materials, a longer lifespan and is less prone to fires.
Automakers including Tesla, General Motors and Ford are gravitating to LFP chemistry for some models to reduce cost.
The Our Next Energy LFP battery will be small by current industry standards, providing about 150 miles of range.
The range-extending battery would add 450 miles before the car runs out of juice. Ijaz wouldn’t detail the chemistry of the second segment — the long-range battery.
“We can make that second chemistry very much a boutique chemistry designed only for range extension,” he said.
However, Ijaz provided a few other details. He expects it to be less costly than other chemistries at about $50 per kWh of storage. That compares with roughly $75 for LFP and $115 for NMC, he said.
It is a cobalt and anode-free battery that uses manganese-rich cathodes. An anode is an electrode that allows current to enter a conventional battery. A cathode is the pathway for current to leave the battery.
It will take the BMW project and other testing to demonstrate whether the second battery will fulfill its mission of providing extra range when required.
It also won’t be as durable. The typical LFP battery in a new EV should last for about 3,000 charges before starting to degrade, according to Our Next Energy. That represents more than 400,000 miles of driving and should outlast the car’s useful life. But the range-extending battery is expected to go for 200 cycles before starting to degrade, or about 90,000 miles.
Ijaz said the edge cases, where a driver needs the extra range, come only about four times annually. But even chemistry more sensitive to range reduction after hundreds of charges still will serve its purpose, Ijaz said. For example, if it lost 20 percent of its charge capability, the battery would still provide more than 350 miles of range, giving a vehicle with the Gemini system the ability to go 500 miles between charges.
“We think that’s the future of where electric vehicles will go,” Ijaz said. “What the market really is looking for is durability, safety, cost in everyday driving, and then a special chemistry for that range extension.”