24M Technologies

By: Benjamin Weinstock and John R. Wells

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Synopsis: In early 2020, 24M Technologies (24M) announced that two of its strategic investors had commenced building plants to produce lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries based on 24M's novel semi-solid electrode technology. This promised to halve the cost of conventional Li-ion batteries, increase the energy density to provide greater range in electric vehicles, and make them safer and more reliable. Cofounders Yet-Ming Chiang and Throop Wilder had set up the company 10 years earlier in a quest to take all that was good about Li-ion technology and improve it. The founders argued that, historically, Li-ion development had focused on miniaturized cells for consumer electronics and that these design principles had been carried over into cells destined for electric cars and grid-scale batteries. It made no sense to accept these constraints. What was needed was a fresh start; to begin with a "clean sheet of paper." The technology had taken 10 years and nearly $100 million to develop from a laboratory demonstration to a commercial product. Now, the challenge was to scale it up to compete with conventional technology.