US vehicle maker General Motors (GM) has led a $139 million Series D funding round into lithium-metal developer SES.
The Singapore-based firm, formerly known as SolidEnergy Systems, aims to develop and manufacture next generation lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles.
Qichao Hu, founder and CEO of SES, said the new round of funding would help accelerate technology development, significantly expand its technical, business and manufacturing teams, and expedite the commercialisation of its technology.
Additional contributors to the funding round were existing investors: SK Corporation (South Korea), Temasek (Singapore investment firm), Applied Ventures (venture capitalist), SAIC (China vehicle maker) and Vertex— all of which are shareholders in the firm.
In March, GM and SES signed a joint development agreement to build a manufacturing prototyping line for a high-capacity, pre-production battery by 2023. The plant will be in Massachusetts, US.
SES claims their system is capable of >400Wh/kg and >1000Wh/L; and can charge to 80% of battery capacity in 15 minutes.
