EV battery startup Alsym aims to slash cost, eliminate lithium and cobalt

By Paul Lienert

June 15 (Reuters) - Alsym Energy, a seven-year-old Massachusetts startup, aims to halve the cost of electric vehicle batteries with a new design that eliminates lithium and cobalt, two increasingly costly ingredients in many current EV batteries, the company said on Wednesday.

One of the company's goals is to help make EVs more affordable for a greater portion of the world's population, a key executive said.

Alsym has partnered with one of India’s top automakers to jointly develop the new battery, Mukesh Chatter, chief executive and co-founder, said in an interview. Chatter declined to name the automaker.

India’s two largest vehicle manufacturers are Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra, both of which build electric vehicles.

Alsym’s battery has the potential to be safer, more sustainable and easier to recycle because it is made with non-toxic, non-flammable materials that are readily available, said Chatter, who has a graduate degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Chatter said his wife and longtime business partner Priti Chatter, who holds degrees in chemistry, biology and finance, came up with the company’s larger mission.

“She said, we need to identify technologies that are affordable than can have an impact on the lives of at least one billion people. That’s how it started.”

Alsym’s battery, which can also be used for stationary energy storage and marine applications, uses such relatively common materials as manganese and aluminum, he said.

Eventually the company hopes to build its battery cells with a manufacturing partner, Chatter said, with a target production date of 2025.

The company has raised $32 million from Helios Climate Ventures and other investors. (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit Editing by Marguerita Choy)