The venture capital fund of Stellantis, Stellantis Ventures, has announced they will take part as a strategic investor in Tiamat, a French spin-off of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), which develops and markets the technology of sodium-ion batteries. It is a technology that offers a lower cost per kilowatt/hour and it is lithium-and cobalt-free, granting higher sustainability. The sodium ion technology promises more convenient energy storage than the current technology of lithium-ion batteries.
“Finding new options to rely on more sustainable and economically accessible batteries that use raw materials with broad availability is one of the key ambitions of our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, according to which we will zero our net carbon emissions by 2038,” declared Ned Curic, Chief Engineering and Technology Officer from Stellantis.
In addition to the sodium-ion battery with Tiamat, Stellantis is investing in other alternative technologies for energy storage, such as the solid-state batteries with Factorial Energy and the lithium-sulfur chemistry with Lyten Inc.
Tiamat will use the proceeds of the fund-raising plan, of which also Stellantis Ventures is part, to implement a plant of sodium-ion batteries in France. In the early phases, batteries will be intended for electrical appliances and stationary storage applications, whereas in the future the production will be increased with specific second-generation products for BEV vehicles.