Author: Jeff Granato

Thinking Outside the Battery 

The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit is an annual event that brings together innovators, investors, and government representatives to discuss and discover the latest developments in energy research and technology. This year’s theme was “The Future, Faster,” highlighting the urgent need for rapid innovation to address the pressing environmental challenges facing our planet and humanity. Dr. Evelyn Wang, the head of ARPA-E, called on attendees to “transform tomorrow” by accelerating the deployment of cutting-edge technologies and solutions. Iontra was present—and we are answering Dr. Wang’s call to action. 

While it is certainly critical to look towards the future to develop new, innovative solutions to our energy and environmental challenges, it is equally important to focus on the innovations that are ready to be commercialized today. This is especially true when it comes to the urgent need to reduce our carbon emissions and shift towards cleaner sources of energy. 

One challenge, however, is that the approach to a greener, battery-powered future, often comes down to the same sought-after solutions for next-gen batteries: new chemistries, new materials, and reimagined battery components. But this equation is going to take many years, if not a generation, to develop, prove, and get to market.  

Should we chase the dream of better batteries? Yes, by all accounts, yes. Our global challenges must be an all-solutions-on-deck approach. But we need to think outside of the proverbial box, or in this case, think outside the battery, to charge control, if we want to achieve the future, faster. 

ARPA-E Director, Dr. Evelyn Wang, called on Summit participants to “transform tomorrow” by delivering “the future, faster.”

Iontra: Leading the Way 

Iontra’s advanced battery charging optimization technology dramatically extends cycle life, increases charging speeds and capacity utilization, supports cold weather charging, and makes charging safer overall. Our technology sits outside of the battery, requiring no changes to the batteries themselves and little, if any, change to the charge control unit or other hardware.  

With a predictive and adaptive approach to charging, Iontra’s charge control technology is constantly adapting to the battery’s state of health, understanding and adjusting thousands of times per second to ensure that the primary causes of degradation—plating and dendrite formation—are reduced, if not eliminated. And we are doing this now. It’s proven. 

By embracing advanced charge control optimization, Iontra is helping to create a more sustainable future with a more secure mineral supply chain. Think about it: if we can double the cycle life of all lithium batteries, we can reduce the need for aggressive mineral mining, reduce waste in our landfills, and move our economy, more quickly, to electrification. 

The Future, Today 

People often think the “moon shot” is something that must be far off in the eternally distant future and requires exotic new materials, innovative manufacturing technologies or billions of dollars to create transformative change. It does not have to be that way.   

By thinking outside the battery, Iontra’s advanced battery control optimization technology is making profound and transformational change today – dramatically better performing batteries and products and a healthier, more sustainable planet. 

The battery industry has come a long way in recent years, but the need for enhanced battery performance remains a top priority for consumers and businesses alike. From smartphones to electric cars, power tools to home energy storage, we depend on rechargeable technology to power our lives. Unfortunately, the faster we try to charge our batteries, the more we damage them. This not only shortens the battery’s lifespan but also contributes to the production of e-waste and environmental harm. But with new advanced battery charging optimization technology from Iontra, the battery industry and manufacturers have the necessary tools to make a transformational change in the way we power our devices and protect our environment.

The Science Behind Battery Health

All types of batteries, including lithium-ion, zinc-ion, and lithium-sulfur, experience wear and tear during the charging process, known as chemical aging, especially with fast or ultra-fast charging. This natural damage causes batteries to lose effectiveness over time and, at a certain point, they need to be replaced. Lithium-ion batteries are susceptible to plating and dendritic growth – a buildup of lithium metal on the battery’s anode surface. If left unchecked, the plating can lead to serious safety concerns, such as short-circuiting, thermal runaway, and even fires.

Iontra’s Answer: Analysis and Adjustment

To minimize damage and maximize battery health, Iontra charging uses predictive technology to manipulate the charging current. The company’s adaptive charging technology predicts future wear and tear based on the battery’s current state and most probable future state. This sounds complicated, but the result is not: Iontra’s technology adjusts the charge a thousand times per second to get the best performance and life from a battery and prevent damage.

Iontra’s adaptive charging process reduces damage and increases the safe working life of the battery, so it doesn’t need to be replaced as often. Furthermore, this adaptive charging method improves charge times and still maintain battery health. Millions of test cycles in our state-of-the-art labs and third-party reports from organizations like UL Solutions (formerly Underwriters Laboratories), National Renewable Energy Lab, the University of Michigan, and Novonix all tell us that Iontra’s technology reduces battery damage and improves charge speed. The reports show that lithium-ion battery charge times can be improved by up to four times the standard rate, cutting down a one-hour charge time to as little as 15 minutes.

Cost-Effective and Easy to Implement

Improving battery life is often a costly investment for manufacturers, requiring new battery chemistries or cell designs for only marginal improvements. But Iontra’s focus on optimizing the charging means significant performance benefits can be brought to existing commercial and pre-commercial batteries like lithium-ion without requiring a specific battery chemistry change or cell redesign. This adaptive charging method is implemented on a microcontroller unit (MCU) charge control chip, with minor charging circuit modifications, making it easy to implement across the enterprise and more cost-effective than undergoing new cell design and qualification.

Optimized Battery Charging for a More Sustainable Industry and Planet

Extended battery life is not just good for convenience and efficiency, it’s also good for the environment. The longer a battery lasts, the fewer batteries will end up in landfills as e-waste, and perhaps, the fewer natural resources we will need to pull up from the earth. We have an obligation to each other and the planet to find ways to do more with less— in terms of both financial and environmental resources. And by taking a step with Iontra’s transformational charging technology as a partner, companies across the battery value chain can contribute to a more sustainable future.