Adden Energy Develops Game-changing EV Battery That Charges in 3 minutes & Lasts 20 Years 

AHarvard-backed startup, Adden Energy, has developed a battery for electric cars that is capable of fully charging in 3 minutes and lasting more than twice the time of current EV batteries, or 20 years.

A coin-sized lab prototype of the battery charges in just three minutes, with more than 10,000 cycles in a lifetime.
It’s also made of solid state materials, which stamps out the safety concerns associated with lithium batteries and can “sustain high performance over a long lifetime.”

Adden Energy Develops Game-changing EV Battery That Charges in 3 minutes & Lasts 20 Years

Adden Energy was founded in 2021 by Harvard researchers Xin Li, William Fitzhugh, Luhan Ye, and Fred Hu. The startup has received $5.15 million in funding to commercialize the game-changing battery. The technology has received an exclusive license from Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, and the funding was led by Primavera Capital Group, with participation by Rhapsody Venture Partners and MassVentures.

The startup will now advance the technology after successfully demonstrating a coin-cell prototype with 5,000-10,000 cycles in a lifetime — as against 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for the best in class batteries currently. According to the startup, the rapid development of clean energy storage technology is critical.

Using the funding secured, the company is looking to scale up in the coming years, first creating a palm-sized battery and then a full-size battery for vehicle use.

Co-founder Li and scientific advisor Lee said of the incredible battery: “If you want to electrify vehicles, a solid-state battery is the way to go.”

He also outlined the company’s trajectory: “We set out to commercialize this technology because we do see our technology as unique compared to other solid-state batteries. We have achieved in the lab 5,000 to 10,000 charge cycles in a battery’s lifetime, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for even the best in class now, and we don’t see any fundamental limit to scaling up our battery technology. That could be a game changer.”
If successful, the new battery could help reduce the amount of harmful CO2 emissions in the atmosphere with Fitzhugh explaining that: “Complete electrification of the vehicle fleet is one of the most meaningful steps we can take to fight climate change.

“However, broad adoption of electric vehicles requires batteries that can meet a diverse set of consumer needs. For example, 37 percent of Americans don’t have garages at home, so at-home overnight charging is not possible.”

Fitzhugh goes on to state, “In order to electrify this category, EVs need to recharge at comparable periods to internal combustion cars, effectively in the time you’d now spend at the gas pump. And, considering that the battery can sustain 20 years of operation with a three-minute charge period, it could.” 

Everyone should have access to technology. We see no fundamental limit to the advancement of our battery technology. That has the potential to revolutionize the game.