The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), and a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, awarded a $4.8-million technology development contract to Zenlabs Energy Inc. in Fremont, California for development of low-cost, fast-charge (LC/FC) battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs).

The contract award, which includes a 50% cost share, funds a 30-month project that began last month. Building on a successful Phase 1, the goal of this program is to develop novel electrolyte formulations, a scalable pre-lithiation method that enables the use of high-capacity silicon oxide anodes, and optimized cell designs that will result in lithium-ion batteries capable of meeting USABC LC/FC EV battery goals.





Zenlabs has developed proprietary silicon-based formulations that offer higher specific capacity, longer cycle life, and lower cost. Zenlabs’ anodes feature high loading levels and high active silicon content. In addition, Zenlabs has solved the common problems with silicon-based anodes such as poor cycling and swelling.

Already in partnership with the USABC, Zenlabs has developed an ultrahigh energy density cell targeted at EVs called Range. Range features a high-capacity SiO x anode paired with an NCM cathode.

Zenlabs Range cell





USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles.

In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.