Samsung SDI, Solid Power and BMW join forces to develop a new solid-state battery

Samsung SDI, the division of the South Korean giant dedicated to battery cell technology, has signed an agreement with the BMW Group and the American company Solid Power, a specialist in the development of solid-state batteries, to advance a project aimed at validating a new all-solid-state battery.

Under the agreement reached, Samsung SDI will supply solid-state cells incorporating a solid electrolyte developed by Solid Power, which provides higher energy density and superior levels of safety. BMW, for its part, will be responsible for designing modules and battery packs for these cells.

In this regard, it is important to point out that although the agreement explicitly mentions modules and packs, the Bavarian firm currently favours cell-to-pack technology, which dispenses with intermediate modules, in its new-generation electric vehicles based on the innovative Neue Klasse platform. This is precisely the case of the new iX3, which uses cylindrical cells.

The alliance is consolidated

This is not, however, the first contact between BMW and Solid Power. Last May, as we told you here on HighMotor, both companies confirmed that they were testing a solid-state battery in an i7. That project, which used cells in highly limited production development, now seems to have reached a new phase, in which the participation of Samsung SDI is also necessary.

BMW and Samsung SDI have already been collaborating on other projects for some time. In 2009, the Bavarian manufacturer began using cells supplied by the South Korean company in its electric vehicles. Likewise, the manufacturer’s relationship with Solid Power is somewhat more recent, beginning in 2016 and gaining momentum in 2022 with the signing of a technology transfer agreement.

The three partners will jointly evaluate the performance of these cells against predefined parameters and integrate them into new-generation prototypes of BMW. This collaboration is based on combining complementary strengths: cell manufacturing by Samsung SDI, production of new-generation vehicles by BMW, and the development of innovative technologies applicable to solid-state batteries. As a result, this should bring closer the day when mass production of electric vehicles equipped with solid-state batteries becomes a reality.