Solid Power Inc. said on Wednesday that it will give BMW some of the intellectual property rights for its solid-state batteries and let BMW make the battery cells in Germany.
Solid Power, which is based in Colorado, will give BMW a licence to design and make the cells. In exchange, BMW will pay Solid Power $20 million through June 2024, as long as certain conditions are met.
As part of the deal, Solid Power will keep the intellectual property rights to its electrolyte material, which it will give to BMW once the carmaker’s battery production lines are up and running.
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BMW has already made plans to get finished battery cells from Solid Power, in which it has invested.
Solid Power went public in December of last year and is one of a group of companies working on next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. These batteries are meant to solve some problems with lithium-ion batteries, which are currently used.
Solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte, while lithium-ion batteries use a liquid one, and they are less likely to catch fire.
