Stellantis N.V. and Lyten, Inc. announced that Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Stellantis, invested in Lyten to accelerate the commercialization of Lyten 3D Graphene applications for the mobility industry, including the LytCell lithium-sulfur EV battery, lightweighting composites and novel on-board sensing.
Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries, Lyten’s lithium-sulfur batteries do not use nickel, cobalt or manganese, resulting in an estimated 60% lower carbon footprint than today’s best-in-class batteries and a pathway to achieve the lowest emissions EV battery on the global market. Raw materials for lithium-sulfur batteries have the potential to be sourced and produced locally in North America or Europe, enhancing regional supply sovereignty. This technology will meet the needs of industries seeking lightweight and energy-dense batteries that are free from supply chain disruptions.
With traditional lithium-ion battery materials in critically short supply for EV manufacturing, Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery will offer an alternative, non-nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode solution that supports the global transition to electric vehicles at mass market scale. Lyten’s goal is to provide a secure supply of performance-based and environmentally sustainable products to its customers, while also enabling auto manufacturers to take advantage of growing U.S. and European policy incentives, such as those referenced in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery, composites and sensor technologies are initially being produced on its 145,000-square-foot campus in Silicon Valley. Apart from producing EV batteries, Lyten is working with previous customers to start delivering lithium-sulfur batteries and 3D Graphene-infused composites for specialty markets in 2023.
Lyten 3D Graphene
Lyten 3D Graphene is a proprietary, tunable decarbonization supermaterial engineered from natural gas. Lyten’s 3D Graphene is similar to two-dimensional graphene in many of its valuable properties; however, 3D Graphene can be orders of magnitude more chemically and electrically reactive while also being highly tunable due to its three-dimensional morphology.
The processes and equipment to engineer three-dimensional graphene materials are proprietary technological inventions patented by Lyten. Lyten will scale its initial output from its San Jose, California, facility and will soon explore locations for a second phase of output capacity.
LytCell EV Lithium-sulfur Battery
LytCell is Lyten’s proprietary lithium-sulfur battery that uses Lyten 3D Graphene to address the polysulfide shuttle challenges associated with sulfur, leading to a higher-performance battery that will have more than twice the energy density, and enables extended driving range compared to conventional EV batteries.
Unlike lithium-ion and solid-state batteries, LytCell does not use expensive and scarce nickel or cobalt, will have an estimated 60%-plus lower carbon footprint than best-in-class lithium-ion, and an estimated 40% lower carbon footprint than solid state. The LytCell will be domestically and sustainably sourced, liberating manufacturers and consumers from supply chain risks and environmentally unsound mining issues associated with nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) oxide materials.
LytR
LytR is Lyten’s unique thermoplastic formulation – infused with Lyten 3D Graphene – that reduces up to half the weight and materials required while maintaining or improving strength and performance. When Lyten 3D Graphene is tuned for dispersion into polyethylene, as with the LytR material, it significantly strengthens the thermoplastics’ chemical and physical properties, thereby requiring less polyethylene material and reducing the carbon footprint by up to 55%.
