International automotive alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has announced is to invest in a US battery materials firm as part of its a venture capital funding programme.
The alliance aims to invest up to $1 billion to support “open innovation” over the next five years. However, the companies declined to give details of its investment in Massachusetts-based Ionic Materials— which is developing a solid polymer electrolyte it says enables improved performance and cost effectiveness of high-energy density batteries for automotive and other applications.
According to a statement from the auto alliance, the involvement in Ionic Materials will help support the development of R&D cooperation.
The funding is expected to identify and support the development of new technologies for potential use by Alliance members.
A spokesperson for the alliance told BBB: “We see a solid-state battery as one of the candidates for the next generation of EV battery development and we continue to research its potential— this investment is part of those efforts.”
“On the other hand, we see the current lithium-ion battery as still having the potential to improve performance, so we will continue to evolve it to meet a variety of customer needs,” he added.
