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Ferroglobe & Coreshell Sign a Memorandum of Understanding to Deliver World’s First Battery-Grade Metallurgical Silicon for Electric Vehicles
Partnership to enable development of the lowest cost, longest range EV batteries replacing graphite and silane-based silicon with metallurgical silicon for
About this update from Ferroglobe Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"Partnership to enable development of the lowest cost, longest range EV batteries replacing graphite and silane-based silicon with metallurgical silicon for the first time\nLONDON, March 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ: GSM), a world leading producer of silicon metal and ferroalloys, and Coreshell, a US-based battery technology company, today announced the signature of a memorandum of understanding. Together, Ferroglobe and Coreshell expect to produce the first battery-ready metallurgical silicon for the development of low-cost, high-range EV batteries in compliance with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The partnership will enable the leapfrogging of silane-based silicon and the replacement of graphite in EV batteries, which have bottlenecked the auto industry since the introduction of electric vehicles, creating cost and range limitations. Electric vehicles suffer from significant cost disadvantages for consumers and automakers alike, with batteries comprising 30-40% of the total cost of electric cars1. Car manufacturers are interested in using silicon in batteries because it can store up to 10 times more energy in the anodes than graphite. This could potentially result in a 30 percent increase in driving range. Coreshell’s proprietary battery technology, featuring a unique nanomaterial electrode coating, is the only proven solution to mitigate the degradation of micrometric silicon, preventing its rapid loss of life while still allowing lithium ions to pass through. Ferroglobe’s proprietary metallurgical purification process to produce up to 99.995% silicon is cost-effective and does not use any chemical reagent, a key technology for producing affordable silicon active material. These innovations enable, for the first time, the development of lithium-ion batteries with metallurgical silicon dominant anodes that meet product requirements for lifetime across a range of applications. “We believe battery-grade, micrometric silicon is the fastest path to decarbonizing the mobility industry,” said Benoist Ollivier, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer of Ferroglobe. “When the right battery technology partner and the leading supplier of silicon to the U.S. come together, breakthroughs can happen. Coreshell is a leading technology company that has been able to solve the raw metallurgical silicon degradation proble...