BMW has a plan to fast-track building its own solid-state batteries for future EVs
This morning, Solid Power announced that long-time investor BMW Group is expanding an existing joint development agreement to license its technology in order to build its own solid-state batteries in Germany. Under the agreement, BMW will gain access to Solid Power’s battery research and development, cell design, and manufacturing expertise to expedite the technology alongside its partner. That being said, Solid Power isn’t licensing all of its technology.
Solid Power ($SLDP) is a Colorado-based battery developer specializing in solid-state, sulfide-based electrolyte technology with hopes to bring scalable cells to the EV world at or near cost parity to current lithium-ion batteries. We have covered the company since 2017 when BMW Group first invested in its technology.
Since then, fellow automakers like Ford and Hyundai have invested in Solid Power, in addition to a partnership with SK Innovation announced in October of 2021. This past June, Solid Power announced a solid-state battery pilot production line ahead of a timeline to deliver the cells to both Ford and BMW before year’s end.
Today, Solid Power announced that BMW Group in particular won’t just be receiving solid-state prototypes for EV testing, but will be granted access to its battery know-how to help develop the technology concurrently.
BMW gets R&D license for solid-state battery tech
Per a press release from Solid Power this morning, it has deepened its long-running relationship with BMW Group as part of a joint development agreement.
By gaining a license to Solid Power’s research and development, cell design, and manufacturing practices, BMW Group intends to duplicate Solid Power’s pilot production line at its own facility in Germany in order to produce prototype batteries cells of its own.
As a result of the expanded development agreement, both Solid Power and BMW Group intend to perform complementary cell development and manufacturing activities at their respective facilities to expedite the capability of the solid-state battery technology. Solid Power COO Dr. Derek Johnson spoke:
We could not be more excited about growing our relationship with BMW, a company that has demonstrated a strong commitment to Solid Power’s technology for the past seven years. We believe this expanded partnership and increased collaboration is an added vote of confidence in Solid Power’s technology development.
In exchange for access to Solid Power’s proprietary solid-state technology and manufacturing know-how, BMW Group has agreed to pay $20 million through June 2024 (subject to achieving certain milestones that have not been shared yet). While the expanded joint development agreement does include the sharing of information pertaining to proprietary battery technology, it does not include a license to intellectual property related to Solid Power’s electrolyte material, a pillar of its current business.
The companies state that while BMW implements its solid-state prototype production line overseas, its team will work alongside the Solid Power personnel at the latter’s facilities to continue to optimize the cell manufacturing processes. Once the production line is up and running in Germany, Solid Power still expects to supply BMW Group with its electrolyte material for all prototype cell production. Solid Power’s interim CEO, president, and chair David Jansen spoke about the future of solid-state batteries in EVs:
Expanding our relationship with BMW is further evidence that both companies believe Solid Power is on the right track with its technology development. I am encouraged by the progress our team continues to make toward achieving our company’s goals. Over the past several months, we began delivering 20 Ah cells to our partners, including BMW, for initial testing and commenced production of our initial EV cells. We look forward to bringing our electrolyte manufacturing facility online and commencing the formal automotive qualification process.
How Solid Power’s expanded relationship with BMW Group may affect access to solid-state battery technology for other investors like Ford remains unclear at this point. This news follows another milestone earlier this week in which fellow solid-state battery developer QuantumScape began delivering 24-layer battery cells to automotive OEMs for testing.
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EV charging veteran ChargePoint has unveiled its new charger product architecture, which is described as a “generational leap in AC Level 2 charging.” The new ChargePoint technology designed for consumers in North America and Europe will enable vehicle-to-everything (V2X) capabilities and the ability to charge your EV in as quickly as four hours.
ChargePoint is not only a seasoned contributor to EV infrastructure but has established itself as an innovative leader in the growing segment. In recent years, it has expanded and implemented new technologies to help simplify the overall process for its customers. In 2024, the network reached one million global charging ports and has added exciting features to support those stations.
Last summer, the network introduced a new “Omni Port,” combining multiple charging plugs into one port. It ensures EV drivers of nearly any make and model can charge at any ChargePoint space. The company also began implementing AI to bolster dependability within its charging network by identifying issues more quickly, improving uptime, and thus delivering better charging network reliability.
As we’ve pointed out, ChargePoint continues to utilize its resources to develop and implement innovative solutions to genuine problems many EV drivers face regularly, such as vandalism and theft. We’ve also seen ChargePoint implement new charger technology to make the process more affordable for fleets.
Today, ChargePoint has introduced a new charger architecture that promises to bring advanced features and higher charging rates to all its customers across residential, commercial, and fleet applications.
ChargePoint unveils maximum speed V2X charger tech
This morning, ChargePoint unveiled its next generation of EV charger architecture, complete with bidirectional capabilities and speeds up to double those of most current AC Level 2 chargers.
As mentioned above, this new architecture will serve as the backbone of new ChargePoint chargers across all segments, including residential, commercial, and fleet customers. Hossein Kazemi, chief technical officer of hardware at ChargePoint, elaborated:
ChargePoint’s next generation of EV chargers will be revolutionary, not evolutionary. The architecture underpinning them enables highly anticipated technologies which will deliver a significantly better experience for station owners and the EV drivers who charge with them.
The new ChargePoint chargers will feature V2X capabilities, enabling residential and commercial customers to use EVs to power homes and buildings with the opportunity to send excess energy back to the local grid. Dynamic load balancing can automatically boost charging speeds when power is not required at other parts of the connected building structure, enabling efficiency and faster recharge rates.
ChargePoint shared that its new charger architecture can achieve the fastest possible speed for AC current (80 amps/19.2 kW), charging the average EV from 0 to 100% in just four hours. That’s nearly double the current AC Level 2 standard (no pun intended).
Other features include smart home capabilities where residential or commercial owners can implement the charger within a more extensive energy storage system, including solar panels, power banks, and smart energy management systems. The new architecture also enables series-wiring capabilities, meaning fleet depots, multi-unit dwellings, or even residential homes with multiple EVs can maximize charging rates without upgrading their wiring configuration or energy service plan.
These new chargers will also feature ChargePoint’s Omni Port technology, enabling a wider range of compatibility across all EV makes and models. According to ChargePoint, this new architecture complies with MID and Eichrecht regulations in Europe and ENERGY STAR in the US.
The first charger models on the platform are expected to hit Europe this summer followed by North
America by the end of 2025.
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Environment
Tanking oil prices could more than double Saudi Arabia’s deficit to $75 billion and threaten spending plans: Goldman Sachs economist
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Johnnygreig | E+ | Getty Images
Crashing oil prices triggered by waning demand, global trade war fears and growing crude supply could more than double Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit, a Goldman Sachs economist warned.
The bank’s outlook spotlighted the pressure on the kingdom to make changes to its mammoth spending plans and fiscal measures.
“The deficits on the fiscal side that we’re likely to see in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries, especially big countries like Saudi Arabia, are going to be pretty significant,” Farouk Soussa, Middle East and North Africa economist at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC’s Access Middle East on Wednesday.
Spending by the kingdom has ballooned due to Vision 2030, a sweeping campaign to transform the Saudi economy and diversify its revenue streams away from hydrocarbons. A centerpiece of the project is Neom, an as-yet sparsely populated mega-region in the desert roughly the size of Massachusetts.
Plans for Neom include hyper-futuristic developments that altogether have been estimated to cost as much as $1.5 trillion. The kingdom is also hosting the 2034 World Cup and the 2030 World Expo, both infamously costly endeavors.
Digital render of NEOM’s The Line project in Saudi Arabia
The Line, NEOM
Saudi Arabia needs oil at more than $90 a barrel to balance its budget, the International Monetary Fund estimates. Goldman Sachs this week lowered its year-end 2025 oil price forecast to $62 a barrel for Brent crude, down from a previous forecast of $69 — a figure that the bank’s economists say could more than double Saudi Arabia’s 2024 budget deficit of $30.8 billion.
“In Saudi Arabia, we estimate that we’re probably going to see the deficit go up from around $30 to $35 billion to around $70 to $75 billion, if oil prices stayed around $62 this year,” Soussa said.
“That means more borrowing, probably means more cutbacks on expenditure, it probably means more selling of assets, all of the above, and this is going to have an impact both on domestic financial conditions and potentially even international.”
Financing that level of deficit in international markets “is going to be challenging” given the shakiness of international markets right now, he added, and likely means Riyadh will need to look at other options to bridge their funding gap.
The kingdom still has significant headroom to borrow; their debt-to-GDP ratio as of December 2024 is just under 30%. In comparison, the U.S. and France’s debt-to-GDP ratios of 124% and 110.6%, respectively. But $75 billion in debt issuance would be difficult for the market to absorb, Soussa noted.
“That debt to GDP ratio, while comforting, doesn’t mean that the Saudis can issue as much debt as they like … they do have to look at other remedies,” he said, adding that those remedies include cutting back on capital expenditure, raising taxes, or selling more of their domestic assets — like state-owned companies Saudi Aramco and Sabic. Several Neom projects may end up on the chopping block, regional economists predict.
Saudi Arabia has an A/A-1 credit rating with a positive outlook from S&P Global Ratings and an A+ rating with a stable outlook from Fitch. That combined with high foreign currency reserves — $410.2 billion as of January, according to CEIC data — puts the kingdom in a comfortable place to manage a deficit.
The kingdom has also rolled out a series of reforms to boost and de-risk foreign investment and diversify revenue streams, which S&P Global said in September “will continue to improve Saudi Arabia’s economic resilience and wealth.”
“So the Saudis have lots of options, the mix of all of these is very difficult to pre-judge, but certainly we’re not looking at some sort of crisis,” Soussa said. “It’s just a question of which options they go for in order to deal with the challenges that they’re facing.”
Global benchmark Brent crude was trading at $63.58 per barrel on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in London, down roughly 14% year-to-date.
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