A battery designed to tolerate sweltering heat in Southeast Asia could be great at powering electric vehicles and other machines around the world as well.
Better yet, the power pack from China's Farasis Energy can also handle extreme cold, testing well across 5,000 cycles in a wide temperature range — from minus-22 degrees to 149 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Interesting Engineering, which describes the tech as a potential "game-changer."
The battery innovation was showcased at June's ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Automotive Supply Chain Conference in Thailand.
It's part of a series of big headlines filling the company's "news" section on its website. In late May, Farasis added a new head of business development for the European market, perhaps a sign of the company's global ambitions.
"I want to drive forward the future of electrification in the automotive and non-automotive sector," Thomas Schnepf said in a press release announcing his hiring for the post.
Farasis' latest semi-solid-state battery was tested in its labs, where experts claim it showed the ability to provide more than 1 million miles of driving during its life span, per IE. Batteries typically have solid or liquid electrolytes, the substance through which ions pass as the pack charges and discharges.
IE's reporting suggests the latest innovation from Farasis is somewhere in the middle, which isn't entirely novel. The Detroit News reports that Ford is also interested in this type of tech, and considers the chemistry "promising." The newspaper describes the inner workings of these types of packs as having a "solid, conductive material suspended in a liquid electrolyte to help ease the movement of the lithium ions."
Farasis touts its version as providing high performance and strong safety standards to go along with the long life span and expanded temperature range, according to IE.
For reference, Scientific American notes that common lithium-ion batteries are safe to operate at between 32 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Greater life spans — and mileage and temperature ranges — can help to increase EV adoption, addressing remaining sticking points such as range anxiety. The International Energy Agency reports that there were around 3 million new EVs sold globally during the first quarter of 2024, a 25% increase from the same period a year before.
EV drivers can typically save about $1,500 a year on gas and maintenance by switching from a gas guzzler. What's more, about 10,000 pounds of planet-warming air pollution can be avoided. As our world warms, extreme weather risks are heightened, and even our food system can be affected.
Government incentives, competition, and better technology are making cleaner rides even more affordable.
For its part, Farasis considers its tech to be suitable to power EVs, buses, and even flying machines in the future, according to IE's reporting.
"The topic of electromobility and sustainability is a personal concern of mine," Schnepf said in the press release.
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