Sakti3 looks for $15 million grant from Dep. of Energy
Sakti3, a lithium-ion battery start-up company based in old Detroit got its start in 2007 with the help of University of Michigan professor Ann Marie Sastry. Now, we hear that the company has not only secured $15 million capital for its project, but is also doing paperwork to get an additional $15 million from the Department of Energy. Sastry is being supported by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). The aim? Manufacturing lithium-ion batteries. The company is talking about a pilot factory in Michigan in 2010. The company is collaborating with GM and Sastry herself helped retrain 50 GM engineers on alternative propulsion technology at the University of Michingan's GM Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains.[Source: Mlive]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tim 11:07AM (5/21/2009)
Great plan, but if they can't produce a battery for under $500/kWhr its a dead issue. Too many battery start-ups taking a lot of money from the EV manufacturing side. I'm curious as to what breakthrough they have to take market share away from the 2 dozen other battery companies now producing and selling batteries? What about getting some orders first, some commitments before spending $30M????
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James 12:02PM (5/23/2009)
This start-up is a bit different from many others. Sastry's molecular-level battery simulations are providing amazing new insights on better ways to structure new materials for batteries. This simulation technology certainly warrants attention and investment over other start-ups. Have a look at Sastry's research page:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~amsastry/
Her group's work is pretty phenomenal. Using advanced simulation to guide design decisions will play an increasingly important role in improving our energy and transportation systems:
http://www.design-impact.org/
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