The battery world has fallen head over heals for lithium-iron-phosphate cells, an affordable, sturdy chemistry that may decrease the value of a automobile by hundreds of {dollars}. Tariffs and anti-China laws have sophisticated the image for American automakers.

“We predict LFP is the lacking ingredient for vitality prosperity. The issue is it’s actually 99% made in China,” Eric McShane, co-founder and CEO of Electroflow, advised TechCrunch. “If we need to have an opportunity of competing, we’ve obtained to flip that script.”

McShane and his co-founder, Evan Gardner, have developed a expertise they suppose is able to undercutting Chinese language producers on value by chopping out a number of steps within the manufacturing course of. If they will ship, they might reduce the price of a LPF battery by as a lot as 20% whereas constructing a home provide chain.

“We appeared on the entire means of mining, ranging from the rock or the salt water and getting all the best way to a lithium chemical. We have been like, man, that’s like ten steps,” he mentioned. “That clearly just isn’t one of the simplest ways to do it.”

A lot of the world’s lithium comes from salty water discovered deep underground. When pumped to the floor, these brines could be processed to extract the lithium they include. Brines in america include hundreds of thousands of tons of lithium, sufficient to provide hundreds of thousands of EVs per yr. The potential is so massive that ExxonMobil is growing a web site in Arkansas, however refining prices make competing with Chinese language suppliers tough.

LFP powered from China sells for round $4,000 per metric ton at the moment, about one-third what it prices in america. However McShane mentioned that after Electroflow is at full-scale manufacturing, he expects the corporate will be capable to produce it for a minimum of 40% lower than the Chinese language producers, all whereas doing it in america.

“In our V1 system — finish of this yr — our purpose is to be a couple of $5,000 per [metric] ton manufacturing value level, and we’re going to scale up and get this to lower than $2,500 per [metric] ton,” he mentioned.

Electroflow lately raised a $10 million seed spherical, TechCrunch has solely realized. The spherical was led by Union Sq. Ventures and Voyager with participation from Fifty Years and Harpoon Ventures.

The method developed by Electroflow takes simply three steps to remodel salty water into LFP materials. The startup lately proved the expertise labored on salty brines extracted from a pipe at a geothermal web site in California.

Electroflow’s expertise is predicated on lithium-ion batteries themselves, not stunning on condition that each McShane and Gardner beforehand researched batteries and battery supplies. “We simply have been actually fascinated by the concept of utilizing newer expertise, like battery expertise, and making use of it to different industries past batteries. Making use of battery tech to mining, seems, is absolutely fruitful,” McShane mentioned.

However the true inspiration for Electroflow got here to Gardner at some point when he was driving Caltrain to work within the Bay Space. As folks have been getting on and off the trains from the platforms, he pictured them like ions shifting between totally different chambers of a tool.

“He sketched it out on a bit of paper and introduced it over to me,” McShane recalled. “I used to be like, oh man, that truly works.”

The startup’s key expertise is a cell which comprises anodes that, when run in a single route, soak up lithium ions from brines after which, in one other, launch them into water containing carbonates. When each passes are completed, the result’s lithium carbonate that’s able to be reacted with phosphate, iron, and different reagents to provide LFP powder that’s able to be shipped to a battery manufacturing unit. For producers that need to make one thing aside from LFP, Electroflow can cease the method early and simply ship them lithium carbonate.

The system runs fully on electrical energy, and producing 50 metric tons of lithium carbonate per yr would require solely as a lot as one U.S. family, McShane mentioned. The water used within the carbonate step can largely be recycled, too. “We don’t use a ton of electrical energy. We don’t use a ton of water,” he mentioned.

When the full-size system is full, will probably be packed inside a 20-foot transport container and be able to producing 100 metric tons of LFP materials per yr. 

“We’re going to churn out these electrochemical cell stacks and actually be capable to course of quite a lot of brine throughout the U.S.,” McShane mentioned. He’s assured the corporate will be capable to undercut Chinese language producers, even in a couple of years when Electroflow reaches industrial manufacturing. 

“Except strategies in China change to be a whole blank-slate, clean-sheet resolution like we’re doing, they will’t get a lot decrease than this,” he mentioned.