British vacuum cleaner maker Dyson has reportedly invested around £10.14 million ($15 million) in a new kind of battery which claims to double smartphone battery life.
Dyson is financing Sakti3, an extension of the University of Michigan’s engineering department, to develop its ‘next generation’ battery technology which can hold twice the energy of existing rechargeable batteries. The vacuum maker has entered into a joint development agreement to commercialize Sakti3’s solid-state battery technology.
Sakti3’s new batteries rely on “solid-state” technology, which makes use of solid lithium electrodes that can manage significantly higher energy storage rather than the mix of liquid chemicals currently used in most phone batteries.
Sakti3 claims that the solid-state batteries can store up to 1,000 watt hours per cubic litre – compared to the 620 cubic litres stored by lithium-ion batteries.
James Dyson, the company’s founder, said “Sakti3 has achieved leaps in performance, which current battery technology simply can’t.”
“It’s these fundamental technologies – batteries, motors – that allow machines to work properly.”
“The Sakti3 team has amazing ambitions, and their platform offers the potential for exponential performance gains that will supercharge the Dyson machines we know today.”
Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Sakti3, said “It was quite an honor for us to be approached by Dyson, precisely because they wanted what we did – much, much better batteries.”
“The truth is, there is a great deal of knowledge and passion on both sides, and Dyson’s engineering team has the capability and the track record to scale up new ideas and make them a commercial reality.
“Together we will enable some very transformative products.
Satki3 has also obtained investments from General Motors and Khosla Ventures. So far, the startup has gathered more than £35 million in funding.
Dyson is yet to announce as when it will commercialize the solid-state battery technology.
