BEEST Highlights

On September 7, 2021, WHOOP launched its latest wearable fitness device, WHOOP 4.0, which will feature Sila Nanotechnologies’ new battery technology. Their technology replaces graphite anodes with silicon (Si) to increase the energy density of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which can reduce battery size without sacrificing safety or performance. Sila Nanotechnologies’ anode technology helps enable the WHOOP 4.0’s slim design.&nbs

On September 3, 2020, battery producer QuantumScape announced its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange through a reverse-merger with the special public acquisition company Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. at an implied value of $3.3 billion. QuantumScape spun out of a project at Stanford University that was awarded $1.5 million to develop transportation battery technology under the Batteries for Electrical Storage in Transportation (BEEST) program.

CREATING DOUBLE ENERGY DENSITY ANODES FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES  UPDATED: February 24, 2016PROJECT TITLE:  Doubling the Charge Density of Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries for TransportationPROGRAM: SBIRAWARD: $2,975,000 + $250,000PROJECT TEAM: Sila Nanotechnologies (Lead); Georgia Institute of TechnologyPROJECT TERM: October 2012 – March 2016

ENHANCED BATTERY CELL PERFORMANCE AND AUTOMATED CELL FABRICATION UPDATED: FEBRUARY 24, 2016  PROJECT TITLE: Semi-Solid Flow Cells for Automotive and Grid-Level Energy Storage PROGRAM: BEEST  AWARD: $5,975,331 PROJECT TEAM: 24 M (Lead); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rutgers University  PROJECT TERM: September 2010 – February 2014

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that up to $130 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will be made available to develop five new program areas that could spark critical breakthrough technologies and secure America's energy future.

At a Recovery Act Cabinet Meeting today, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that the U.S. Department of Energy is awarding $106 million in funding for 37 ambitious research projects that could fundamentally change the way the country uses and produces energy.

The United States faces extraordinary challenges in the 21st century, from creating jobs to protecting the environment and reducing our energy dependency, but with strategic and smart investment we can create game-changing new technologies that overcome these challenges. The question is, will the U.S. make the choices necessary to “win the future?” Dr. Arun Majumdar -- the director of our advanced research agency, ARPA-E -- believes we can and should.

This workshop served as an opportunity for ARPA-E leadership to engage with leading experts to obtain insight on vehicle energy storage technology areas that are ripe for and in strong need of transformational technology development.