Paul Lienert

(Reuters) – Solid Power is a manufacturer of solid-state battery systems for electric cars. It plans to start shipping pre-production batteries cells in the new year for validation testing by Ford Motor and BMW (NYSE:), it said Monday.

In an interview, Doug Campbell, Solid Power’s chief executive and co-founder, said the Colorado company has set up a pilot production line to provide validation samples to automakers while looking for a manufacturing partner to begin producing its cells as early as 2026.

One prospective partner, he said, is Korea’s SK Innovation, which is building joint-venture battery plants with Ford in Tennessee and Kentucky.

“Long term, we do not endeavor to be a cell producer,” he said.

Campbell claimed that Solid Power is able to produce enough pilot batteries for other car manufacturers. However, Campbell declined to elaborate.

In 2021, it went public via a reverse merge.

Campbell acknowledges the intense competition in solid-state battery development among the “big boys – groups like Toyota, Panasonic (OTC:), Samsung, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai and CATL.”

“We’re in a space among a lot of very prominent and credible players,” he said.

Like most of those companies, Solid Power’s battery cell features a sulfide-based solid-state electrolyte, the medium through which lithium ions flow between positive and negative electrodes during charging and discharging.

The risk of internal shorts causing battery cells to catch on fire is significantly lower for those that have solid electrolytes than for those with liquid.

Campbell said Solid Power’s cells, which currently use silicon-rich anodes and nickel-cobalt-manganese cathodes, have the potential to hold more energy – thus providing electric vehicles with longer range – and cost less than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Solid Power’s solid-state cell designs are also compatible with existing lithium-ion manufacturing methods.