Envia is a clean-tech materials company working to power the electric and hybrid car revolution. Envia develop and manufacture innovative components that enable lighter, lower cost lithium batteries.
Envia patent-pending electrode technology produces lithium-ion batteries that store previously unattainable levels of energy—the highest capacity in the world. They’re also safer and longer lasting.
The lithium-ion battery developed by Envia Systems and Argonne provides the highest energy and cycle life of all lithium-ion systems available in the market today for electric vehicles. This technology will facilitate vehicle manufacturers in meeting the stringent U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium requirements for powering 40 mile range PHEVs.
“Our dedicated team of engineers and scientists has worked tirelessly to develop a better battery for electric vehicles. We are very proud and honored to have received the R&D 100 Award, a prestige that has been bestowed on some of the most influential innovations in history,” said Dr. Sujeet Kumar, CEO of Envia Systems.
According to IBM’s Report Automotive 2020, by 2020 every new vehicle will utilize some degree of battery power. Underperformance and high costs have kept lithium batteries from being adopted for use in electric vehicles.
“Electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry, yet batteries have lagged in performance causing costs to be prohibitively high,” said Dr. Khalil Amine, Senior Scientist and Manager of the Advanced Battery Technology Group at Argonne National Laboratory. “The partnership between Argonne and Envia has been very successful in developing industry leading technology for next generation vehicles that enable significant cost savings. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Envia.”
Since 1963, the R&D 100 Awards have identified revolutionary technologies newly introduced to the market. Many of these have become household names, helping shape everyday life for many Americans. These include the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the printer (1986), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), and HDTV (1998).
Moving Away from Oil
Increasing oil prices, concern about climate change and new regulations for higher fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions are bringing big changes to the automotive industry. Consumers are choosing smaller, more efficient gas-powered cars. Availability and sales of hybrids are on the rise. Automakers are looking for ways to meet the impending government standards.
In the next few years, electricity simply must become a larger part of the transportation picture. Electric, hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles can help end the United States’ dependence on oil. The key is high-energy, low-cost, long-lasting and safe batteries.
One Million by 2015
Envia’s patent-pending materials have the potential to fuel the new, clean fleet of one million plug-in hybrid cars President Obama called for by 2015. The first million, and all of those that follow, will take us closer to energy independence, lower greenhouse gas emissions and a revitalized manufacturing sector in the U.S. economy.
Down the Road
Envia is continuing to develop new materials for energy storage solutions, as well as working to establish a Silicon Valley-based manufacturing facility.
Twice the Energy, Half the Weight, Three Times the Life
Today’s lithium-ion batteries are limiting the potential of electric vehicles and hybrids with their expense, weight, dubious safety record, and short life. At Envia, we’ve specifically designed our materials to meet the demands of next-generation, clean energy transportation.
Within the battery, the cathode (or positive electrode) primarily determines energy density and drives cost. Current high-capacity cathodes rely on expensive precious metals to store and deliver moderate amounts of energy.
Envia has developed a cathode material based on inexpensive metals (including manganese) that stores more energy per weight than anything else in use today.
Envia cathode’s crystal structure is inherently more stable than that of most commercial batteries, making it much safer. We also develop novel electrolytes that further increase our safety factor.
About Envia Systems
Envia Systems is a technology leader in high performance, low cost energy storage solutions using lithium ion batteries. These systems will be utilized by manufacturers to develop Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. The company’s patented cathode technology enables its batteries to deliver previously unattainable levels of energy capacity, safety and life. High energy density cathode materials will lower the overall cost of next generation vehicles.
