Bosch has groundbreaking battery technology for electric vehicles

Bosch is debuting a new battery technology for electric cars that could be production-ready in as little as five years.

"Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility," said Dr. Volkmar Denner, Chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. With the acquisition of U.S.A start-up Seo Inc., in addition to its own development in the area of battery technology, Bosch now has crucial know-how in innovative solid-state cells for lithium batteries as well as exclusive patents.

Up to now, the declared industry target has been to double batteries' energy density and halve their costs by the end of this decade. With the new solid-state cells, Bosch sees the potential to more than double energy density by 2020, and at the same time reduce the costs considerably further. A comparable electric car that has a driving range today of 150km would be able to travel more than 300km without recharging - and at a lower cost.

Using solid-state technology, Bosch can manufacture the anode out of pure lithium, which considerably increases storage capacity. In addition, the new cells function without ionic liquid, which means they are not flammable. Thanks to its acquisition of Seeo Inc., Bosch now possesses the first sample cells which have the potential to meet the high standards of the automotive industry where durability and safety are concerned.