Banking & Finance May 3, 2021 6:31:36 pm

BMW, Ford lead Solid Power’s $130M Series B

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse spoke in 2019 about the importance of clean energy for the future of the environment and the economy at the Solid Power headquarters in Louisville. He was joined by U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, Gov. Jared Polis, Ford vice president Ted Miller, Hyundai Cradle founder John Suh and Solid Power CEO Doug Campbell. Lucas High/BizWest.

By Lucas High

LOUISVILLE — Solid Power Inc., the Louisville-based developer of all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, has raised $130 million in a Series B funding round led by the BMW Group, Ford Motor Co.(NYSE: F) and Volta Energy Technologies LLC, a venture-capital group based in Warrenville, Illinois.

“BMW and Ford now share leading positions in the race for all solid-state battery-powered electric vehicles,” Solid Power CEO Doug Campbell said in a prepared statement. “Solid Power now plans to begin producing automotive-scale batteries on the company’s pilot production line in early 2022 as a result of our partners’ continued commitment to Solid Power’s commercialization efforts.”

Both Ford and BMW have supported Solid Power in the past, with Ford investing in the company in 2019 and BMW in 2017.

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Solid Power filed a Form D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last year indicating that it planned to raise capital indefinitely.

“Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that’s why we’re investing directly,” Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of electrification subsystems and power supply research, said in a statement. “By simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we’ll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume, deliver lower costs and better value for customers and more efficiently integrate this kind of solid-state battery cell technology into existing lithium-ion cell production processes.”

Solid Power said it plans to provide Ford and BMW with full-scale 100-ampere-hour cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022.

“The fact that Solid Power is already producing multi-layer all solid-state batteries using industry-standard automated commercial manufacturing equipment is why Volta is excited to ramp up its earlier investment,” Volta CEO Jeff Chamberlain said in a statement. “The company’s partnership with BMW and Ford will further accelerate the full commercialization of Solid Power’s batteries and position both car companies to be among the first to have EVs on the road powered by safer, affordable, high-energy solid-state batteries.”