Electrification of the world’s transportation depends heavily on the ability to build efficient, fast-charging electric vehicle batteries in massive quantities. Meet Andrew Hsieh, founder and CEO of Emeryville, Calif-based Liminal Insights, a developer of EV battery data and analytics tools used to test batteries during manufacturing. Liminal aims to help battery makers make better batteries faster. But shortages of critical minerals, battery failures that have spurred EV recalls, and China’s battery manufacturing dominance, to name just a few challenges, have raised questions about the viability of the United States’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. Can America build better batteries to power EVs and store energy on the grid? Can we make enough batteries, and recycle EV battery packs to reduce the need for mining? With substantial innovation in battery technology and manufacturing processes, we may electrify the transportation sector by 2035.
Liminal has developed EchoStat, an AI-enabled ultrasound battery inspection system that manufacturers can use to assess the performance of every individual battery cell as it comes off the production line. The process takes seconds and prevents bad cells from being integrated into battery packs. Andrew announced a $17.5 million investment in February, which Liminal will use to accelerate the development and deployment of its inspection tools. Liminal also received a $2.75 million grant from the California Energy Commission to help integrate EchoStat into automated manufacturing facilities, or “gigafactories.” Learn more about Liminal Insights at liminalinsights.com.
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