Alpine 4 Holdings (ALPP) Subsidiary ElecJet Releases the Results from The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) On Its AX Class Solid-State Batteries
PHOENIX, March 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpine 4 Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALPP), a leading operator and owner of small market businesses announced today that its subsidiary, ElecJet, has released specifications on third-party testing of its AX Class of Solid-State Batteries.
ElecJet, earlier this month, engaged the Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Newberry, Indiana to have a third-party verification of the specifications of its AX Class of Solid-State Batteries that ElecJet has already confirmed in its laboratory. ElecJet has engaged the BIC to verify the results of the G-AX Class as well, later in 2022. The AX Battery Class is a Ceramic Oxide solid-state battery and comes in the form of a 31Ah Solid-State Battery and a 10Ah Solid-State Battery. All of the AX and G-AX Classes are true solid-state batteries and are not semi solid-state batteries.
ElecJet engaged the BIC to perform several types of testing from verification of its charge capabilities to energy density / power density, to induced failure point testing.
The BIC tested two versions of the AX 31Ah. These two subclasses are designed for different market segments.
- The AX-01 is an ultra-safe version that can withstand a variety of survivability use cases. The AX-01 has a slightly different material composition that enables its amazing survivability characteristics. The BIC confirmed that the AX-01 withstood being punctured, then folded, and finally crumpled while still holding a charge. The cell was then put through a temperature destruction test where the cell survived to a temperature of 410 degrees Fahrenheit (210 degrees Celsius). Details of the tests are described below:
- Nail Puncture Test: The AX-01 was punctured by a 3mm diameter nail. The nail was left inside the battery, purposely causing the battery to short, of which it did for over an hour while being suspended in the air. The battery's temperature fluctuated but would hover at around 98.6°F (37°C) near the end of the hour with a maximum measured temperature of 101.76°F (38.76°C). After, the battery was lowered back on to the metal surface for the nail to be removed and the battery quickly returned to room temperature. One amazing feature of the battery was that during the entirety of the test, the AX-01 was holding voltage and remained functional. Note: Traditional lithium batteries would instantly catch on fire and go into thermal runaway the moment the battery was punctured.
- Fold/Crumple Test: After the puncture test, the AX-01 was folded over its long side (AX-01 is a long rectangular shape) by a mechanical actuator. After it was folded to the point that both ends were touching each other, the battery was attempted to be folded over again by its short side. After being folded with as much force as the mechanical actuator could press out, the battery remained functional throughout the entire process and remained at room temperature. Note: Standard lithium batteries would normally catch on fire after being folded at even a small angle.
- Thermal Heat Test: The battery was placed in an oven and the oven would slowly and constantly increase in temperature to test the battery's heat exposure breaking point. The temperature of the battery was brought up to 428°F (220°C) before thermal runaway occurred creating a new BIC record. Once the battery eventually caught fire, the fire was unlike other thermal runaways where a battery spews a stream of fire from a concentrated point, but rather was much more contained to the surface area across the battery. Note: Typical lithium batteries would have a thermal runaway at 266°F (130°C) and the previous highest recorded temperature before thermal runaway on cells of similar capacity, with fielded chemistries, at the BIC was 302°F (150°C).
The BIC confirmed that the AX-01 measured a discharge energy of 111.41Wh at a C/2 rate (measured 31.70 Ah)). At a nominal volume of 0.17571 Liters for each cell and a nominal mass of 0.395 kg, this translates to 634Wh/L and 282Wh/kg of energy densities which are both dramatic improvements over current battery technology.
* The AX-01 also has a designed commercial cycle life of over 1,200 charge cycles.
- The AX-02 is an energy dense cell that also has a high degree of survivability but trades some of the safety material features of the AX-01 for much higher power densities and higher life cycles.
The BIC confirmed that the AX-02 has the capability to charge at 4C. This means that the battery can fully charge in just 15 minutes. The AX-02 is also capable of 7C discharging and over 2,400 life cycles, both of which are currently in the process of being confirmed by the BIC.
The BIC also confirmed that the AX-02 measured a discharge energy of 113.213Wh at a C/2 rate (measured 31.4 Ah). At a nominal volume of 0.17571 Liters for each cell and a nominal mass of 0.395 kg, this translates to 644Wh/L and 287Wh/kg of energy densities which are both dramatic improvements over current battery technology.
*The AX-02 also has a designed commercial cycle life of over 2,400 charge cycles.
Kent Wilson, CEO of Alpine 4 had this to say, "I want to thank the BIC and their talented staff of engineers for their testing work on our AX Class of Solid-State Batteries. While traditional lithium battery cells such as the Tesla 4680 or the Panasonic 21700 have taken lithium-powered cells to new heights, they have reached their technological limits. Further, while other solid-state battery companies have accomplished fast charging like ours, they typically trade-off longevity or how much energy a battery can store. What shareholders and potential customers can take away from the BIC results is that the AX Class of Solid-State Batteries are the perfect balance between energy density (how much energy the battery can store), its C rate (how quickly it can charge) and its cycle count (how many times a battery can be charged). The AX31Ah-02 is the best all-around battery cell in production and ready to transform various industries including the EV and power storage markets. Vehicles from companies like Tesla, Lucid, GM, Ford, and RIVIAN all use traditional lithium cells. If their vehicles were powered by our AX31Ah-02, they could charge in 15 minutes, store more energy for longer duration trips and have battery cells that can power their vehicles for over 300,000 miles before the battery would require replacement. There is no better way to say this than these batteries don't just change the game, they redefine it, and we are hitting the ground running."
Danny Marshall, the Battery Innovation Center's Lead Testing and Evaluation Team Engineer, commented: "I am extremely impressed with the performance of this battery cell relative to other cells that we have tested at BIC. Somehow, its energy density exceeds some of the best NMC technologies that BIC has tested while being solid state and maintaining comparable C-Rate performance. From an EHS testing perspective, it has been shown to maintain stability under some amazing abusive conditions in contrast to the fielded lithium-ion chemistries that we see today. I am excited to continue testing and characterizing the abusive/performance specifications and see if we can find where the engineering tradeoff will be, assuming it exists."
*Tested only in our laboratory still waiting results from the BIC. This process takes several months to complete.
About Elecjet: Elecjet specializes in developing super-fast charging, graphene battery solutions that offer convenience in the palm of your hands. For the past 11 years, our research and development team have been committed to advancing our products' charging performance and battery life.
About the BIC: The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) is a collaborative initiative designed to incorporate leadership from renowned universities, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. The BIC focuses on the rapid development, testing and commercialization of safe, reliable and lightweight energy storage systems for defense and commercial customers. The BIC has worked with such customers as Solid Power, Bright Volt, Fisker, Rolls Royce, Du Pont, Valvoline, LG Chem, UL, GE Global Research and Cummins to name a few.
About Alpine 4 Holdings: Alpine 4 Holdings, Inc. (ALPP) is a NASDAQ traded conglomerate that acquires businesses that fit into its disruptive DSF business model of Drivers, Stabilizers, and Facilitators. At Alpine 4, we understand the nature of how technology and innovation can accentuate a business. Our focus is on how the adaptation of new technologies, even in brick-and-mortar businesses, can drive innovation. We also believe that our holdings should benefit synergistically from each other, have the ability to collaborate across varying industries, spawn new ideas, and create fertile ground for competitive advantages.
Four principles at the core of our business are Synergy. Innovation. Drive. Excellence. At Alpine 4, we believe synergistic innovation drives excellence. By anchoring these words to our combined experience and capabilities, we can aggressively pursue opportunities within and across vertical markets. We deliver solutions that not only drive industry standards, but also increase value for our shareholders.
Contact: Investor Relations
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