Cheap and made with surprisingly common ingredients: Altech has two battery pack prototypes in production

Altech Batteries (ASX: ATC) has two ‘game-changing’ 60KWh battery pack prototypes in production – which is set to give lithium-ion batteries a run for its money. Altech’s batteries use table salt as a key ingredient instead of critical metals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite.

The battery packs, referred to as “ASB60” are expected to be “in the region of 40% cheaper than lithium-ion batteries,” as it eliminates the “exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns.” Some additional characteristics of the battery pack include:

• Design: The product has a sea container design with plug and play functionality for easy installation.

• Battery life: The battery has a projected lifespan of 15 years with “unlimited cycling”.

• Operating conditions: The batteries adheres to the Ingress Protection (IP) 65 standard, which ensures operation in extreme cold and hot climates.

• Maintenance: Altech notes “extremely low” maintenance costs over the battery life.

• Noise: The battery packs are designed without any moving parts such as cooling fans, which makes it completely noise-free.

• Use case: Altech views the product as a “cost-effective solution for storing and distributing renewable energy across a wide variety of applications, including grid-scale storage, microgrids and electric vehicle charging.” 

Following the launch of its design in March 2023, Altech has carried out extensive cycling simulations to evaluate the temperature profile of the battery components.

“The simulations indicate that the battery can undergo charge and discharge cycling while maintaining stable internal temperatures without overheating, even under extreme conditions,” the company said in a statement, adding that “no instances of overheating were reported during these simulations.”

The successful testing has enabled the prototype to move towards production, which involves the manufacturing of 480 ceramic solid-state cells as well as auxiliary equipment such as module structures and its battery management system. 

Altech says the specifications for ASB60 have been finalised and orders for materials required for production have been placed. 

"We have built a dynamic and fast moving project team incorporating personnel from Altech, Fraunhofer and various leading German engineering companies and industrial contractors,” commented Altech Managing Director Iggy Tan.

Once the battery packs are produced, the company says they will undergo cycling testing under extreme conditions and made available for testing at customer premises.

Altech 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

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