Dusseldorf “Overall, by the end of the decade, we’re seeing an improvement in energy density of about twice the current state of the art,” says Gene Berdichevsky. He predicts that these innovations could “drop costs from about $100 per kilowatt-hour to about $50 per kilowatt-hour by the end of the decade.” Gene Berdichevsky is co-founder of the tech start-up Sila Nanotechnologies and wants to mass produce batteries made of silicon.
Using silicon in the anode of batteries is not new. However, processing is not easy because of certain physical properties. The cause: The semi-metal expands significantly when the battery is charged, says Berdichevsky. “It’s really bad for the battery.” So Sila Nanotechnologies developed a new technique that can withstand the strain. The technology is already being built into fitness trackers today. The next partner of Sila is the car industry.
Because the processing is so complicated, big car manufacturers like Mercedes and BMW rely on specialized start-ups like Sila. “We’re trying to help them build a better vehicle,” says Berdichevsky. With success: The new generation is installed in the electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
Berdichevsky was the seventh employee at electric car maker Tesla and led the development of one of the world’s first mass-produced lithium-ion battery systems for automobiles. He is a graduate of the renowned Stanford University, holds numerous patents and was included in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2013.
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More: The previous episode of Handelsblatt Disrupt can be found here.